A NUNNERY AND A DAOIST TEMPLE

0LD TOWN must be one of the busiest sections of Shanghai on a sunny weekend, and that was the description on this day of exploring.   My buddy Ding Yaping and I took the number 10 train to Old Town, found an exit and proceeded to head toward Chenxiangge Road where we found the Chen Xiang Nunnery.    The little ticket to get inside the nunnery called it a monastery, which they claimed was a printing error.  Now, you have to picture the Chinese streets overflowing with jostling, pushing Chinese, hear the voices rising and falling,cantankerous sounds of people in a rush.   And maybe a moment of calm when they circle a stroller with a red-haired child (or two little Orphan Annie look-alikes--I didn't realize until I saw the photo)  was enough to stop the rush of people for a moment on the corner right before the traffic light changed.

A little further on, and down a narrow street to the right was the nunnery.   A small fee to enter, and we find ourselves in a sudden quiet, hushed atmosphere.  It's almost as if we had stepped into a Star Trek transporter and in a flash ended on another planet.

Here's the entrance into the nunnery.

The nunnery is simple, a few temples, and a dormitory rising above.    On the second floor is a special room where it cost another 5Y to enter.

 The courtyard, nun watering.   

This, I believe, is that special room that cost another 5 Y to enter.   At the doorway were two nuns snacking or eating lunch and on their smart phones.  It used to be chanting, but perhaps today there's a new medium for reaching the glory moment.of Nirvana.  (I thought I had sneaked a picture of the two on their smart phones, but my camera phone must have misfired.

(no photos)
It;s interesting to note the variety of deities in the chapels  One would think that the Hindi gods are filling the Buddhist halls.  I probably should have taken Glen's course on the world's religions.  I've forgotten most of what I learned in the only religion class I took back in high school, a course that was among the most popular in the school. We can hear chanting in some of the side chapels.   

(update) I met up with my student guide  Wang Danli (Daring) from last year, who comes from a Buddhist family.  She says the other figures are also Buddhas or (Bodhisattvas?), those who reached enlightenment, and that people do pray to them. That unlike the Christian one god who can answer all prayers, each of these is worshiped for their individual specialty (power?).

Sorry, not a good shot here, but we could see that not only cell phones had arrived, but air conditioning had as well!

And then it was off to The Daoist Temple on the other side of YuYuan Garden.   This is the Temple of the Town God, a red-faced protector, according to the guide book  Here again we see a variety of dieties lining the walls, and monks chanting.    Here again, I have questions, since Daoism is about the way, the path and is based on the I'Ching and the Yin Yang, but without gods that I knew of, so I am surprised as I was last year, to see the Daoist Temple looking very much like the Buddhist temple, with robed monks and serious chanting going on.   And there are people from the streets bowing and kneeling in front of the statues, putting money in the containers.   It seems to be serious business to some, though I did see a young couple who seemed to be there and participating as entertainment, being part of the moment and of the crowds.

This, I believe is the town god.   You'll notice his "exquisite" beard.

As we step out from one temple I look back and see these roofs before entering the next building.

There are several building surrounding a courtyard.

This sign says to go to www.shchm.org.    You can go to the page translate it using Google or Bing.

This female deity was present at the nunnery as well, and at the Jing'an temple last year.   Here, you can see her purpose is to give hope to those wanting to have children.

Last year when I was in Old Town many of the buildings were covered in plastic.    This year they showed a shiny freshly painted face.

Of course, there's a waiting line to get into Starbucks.

 Somewhere along the way, we grabbed a Dairy Queen Blizzard because Ding Yaping had never had one (a minor disappointment) and stopped at Pizza Hut for dinner (it was on the way to the subway train.)   It may have been 20 years since I ate at the Pizza hut near Highline, so I go to China to break my years of abstention.   And Dairy Queen has been gone from Vashon for almost as long, I believe. 

End of the day.