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Jingan Temple

It was the nicest little temple, it was near the best bargaining opportunities

After attending the Sunday morning mass at Xujiahui Catholic Cathedral we took the Metro, which is called ditie (underground iron) in Chinese. We thought it would not be crowded on Sunday morning. We were so, so wrong. Everyone were taking the Metro in order to go shopping and having fun. It was especially crowded when we have to change from one line to another at People's Square. It was a good thing that Theresa and I did not mind crowds. The Metro was efficient, clean, and inexpensive. We arrived at our destination in just 10 minutes. (System Map) The first line was opened in 1995, and the second line was opened in 1999.

Jingan Temple in Chinese means Temple of Tranquility: Jing means quiet; An mean peaceful. This temple was neither quiet nor peaceful! One of the reasons was that it was a special day so they only allowed devout Buddhist to worship. So unfortunately we were not able to go inside. You should have seen the crowd inside the temple.

The second reason was that the temple was being restored. This temple was first built in 247 during the Three Kingdoms Period. It was moved to its present location in 1216. It was destroyed and re-built many times thru the ages, including the Cultural Revolution. It was finally rebuilt in 1998 and still under restoration when we were there in Nov of 2002. 

The third reason was that circling this temple was many shops, restaurants, and apartments. It's located on the western side of the very busy Nanjing Xilu. I saw a real estate office that were offering apartments for rent to westerners at a monthly rent of five to six thousands U.S. dollars! At least one could save money by shopping for inexpensive clothing items at a nearby shopping bazaar that specialized in clothing items at wholesale prices--so they claimed :-). Theresa honed her bargaining skills. I was very pleased with a cashmere scarf that I bought. I've been using in the past several weeks while walking Rondo with Theresa at night. The scarf keeps my neck nice and warm :-)