April
24, Tuesday
Today I went out at 10:30 and walked to the People’s
Square to purchase a ticket on the BIG BUS TOURS (hop-on hop-off type). $40 for a 2-day pass. 
Buildings on Xixang Road where Hotel Marvel is located.
View towards People's Park, government buildings and Shanghai skyline, as I use the overhead pedestrian walkway
On the Hop-on / Hop-off bus, touring Shanghai
Along Pudong Avenue and the Bund. The Fairmont Peace Hotel (where we had our farewell dinner)
is the one with the green roof.
Shanghai shopping streets
I simply rode the red line to confirm that I had seen everything on that one already. And wouldn’t you know it, IT STARTED RAINING !
The gateway to Yu Gardens that we visited on our first day in Shanghai
And back to People's Park where I switch from the red to the green line to visit two of Shanghai’s temples: Jing’An & Jade Buddha
We pass the Shanghai Museum, that we visited a few days before. It's only a hop, skip and a jump from the hotel where I am staying.
OK, I understand the Bull (earlier pictures along the Bund) but what's with the rhinosaurus ?
The Jing’An Temple is a fairly large complex with multiple buildings forming a large inner courtyard. ``It was built in 247 AD during the Three Kingdom Era. Initially known as the Chongyuan Temple, it was renamed in 1008 AD during the Song Dynasty. In 1983 it was designated as one of the national key temples of Han Buddhism and it opened its doors to the public. In 1998 the reconstruction of the temple began and was completed a few years later.``
The inner courtyard of Jing'An Temple. It is pouring rain and I am soaked.
This is the main statue on the upper floor of the main temple building
“The Mahavira Hall is supported by 46 columns and is constructed entirely from Myanmar Teak. The Jing’an Silver Buddha is a statue of the Sakyamuni Buddha, sitting on the lotus base in meditation. It was made from 15 tons of silver and is 8.8 meters high.”
Some of the 46 wooden columns and ceiling beams. They are HUGE.
Window opening with wooden carving, as seen from within the building
and from the outside. Incredibly beautiful.
The courtyard seen from the upper deck of the entrance gate
The staircase has some elaboratelyl carved stone blocks. A Dharma wheel adorns the upper one, while two dragons on the lower one protect the site.
Everything is decorated in a gold colour. With the blue, the gold and the rich wood colours, the site is beautiful, even in the rain.
White carved marble adorns the upper balcony walls.
I seem to have spent more time waiting for the next bus to arrive than visiting. Each bus line is supposed to take 1 hour, but with a 40 minute wait in between, I was out there for 6 hours.
The bus finally arrives and it is just a short 10 minute
drive to the Jade Buddha Temple. The
grounds here are bigger and I get lost a few times within the buildings. There were a number of shrines within the
buildings
The main courtyard as you enter the Jade Buddha Temple
One of the many statues on the site. Can't keep all these Bhuddist gods straight in my head.
One of the small courtyards deep within the grounds of the temple
Beautiful wooden sculpture of "hundreds of small Bhuddas"
Unfortunately we were not allowed to take pictures of the Jade Buddha. The only Jade carvings we could take pictures of were in an outer courtyard beside the building where the Jade Buddha is housed.
This reclining Buddha was in one of the temple buildings. Quite elegant and feminine.
This is the "monster" on top of the bell, used to hang it up
Leaving the Jade Buddha Temple
Along Nanjing Road, the high class shopping area
It was the end of the tour, I was just waiting to get to the Shanghai Museum (2 stops away) for a short walk to my hotel, but we were stopped at the Art Museum near the Clock Tower for 20 minutes, less than a 10 minute bus ride away from the Shanghai Museum when I went to ask how long we would be stopped here.Another 10 minutes ! ! ! I got off and walked back to my hotel through the People’s Park.
As you can see, my level of patience still has a short fuse.
I made it back to the hotel before the Hop-on/off bus got to the Shanghai Museum.
I spotted a Subway Restaurant just around the corner from my hotel and went in to buy a sandwich; just like in Canada.It helped to soothe my hunger as well as my anger.By 5 pm I was back in my room, showered and resting in bed.
Hopefully tomorrow’s weather will be better since I want to do the blue line along the Huangpu River, take the river cruise and go up the Oriental Pearl TV Tower and Hotel. I may also try to go up the World Financial Centre or the Jin Mao Tower, depending on the weather.
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