Travel to French concession region & City God Temple in shanghai of china
July 20, 2009Travel to French concession region & City God Temple in shanghai of china
French concession region
The French Concession is the area of shanghai once designated for the French in 1849 and retook by China in 1943, with a history of nearly one hundred years. Today, it has become a famous tourist region in Shanghai and the tree-lined avenues and many Tudor mansions there still retain an air of the “Paris of the East”. Located in the Luwan District and Xuhui District, it has a great of things to be explored, from the old European buildings in shady avenues to the cafes and restaurants of its central Huaihai Road, a busy shopping street.
City God Temple
Located next to the Yuyuan Garden and also known today
as the Yu Garden Market, the City God Temple ( Chenghuang Temple) was built in the fifteenth century during the Ming Dynasty. Originally a temple built to honor the Han statesman Huo Guang (68 B.C.) The City God Temple is a Taoist temple which is composed of many a halls such as the Grand Hall, Middle Hall, Bedroom Palace, Star Gods Hall, Yama Palace, Xuzhen God Hall. The temple had an area of more than 10,000 square meters including two gardens: West Garden (Yuyuan Garden) and East Garden. The City God Temple has a great influence on the residents of Shanghai. The religious festivals of the temple are considered to be the festivals for all Shanghai people. Especially when the Sanxun festival (a day when the City God start to inspect his people) comes, nearly all people will come to the Temple to burn incense and worship the God, while all shops inside or close by would hang red lanterns to celebrate the festival. In addition, some folk arts, like cockfight, penmanship performance and acrobatics, are fairly attractive.
