Upon sailing into Shanghai, my first thought was, “It
looks like the future!” Google a picture of the Shanghai skyline and you’ll see
what I mean. Shanghai, much like the rest of China, is an interesting land of
contrasts, with the modern, futuristic skyline on one side of the river and the
colonial, European influenced skyline on the other.
We spent the afternoon wandering around the city, taking
in the sights. One thing that stood out to me was the concept of a place of
worship as a tourist attraction. While I have been to more cathedrals and
churches in Europe than I can count, this idea never really struck me as weird
until now. We visited the Jade Buddha Temple in Shanghai and with the Chinese
New Year rapidly approaching, the temple was bustling with Buddhists paying
their respects in preparation for the new year. It wasn’t until we entered the
gift shop that the whole thing struck me as weird. On one half of the gift shop
were the customary Buddha statues and prayer beads. On the other half, there
were more pieces of art work. Smack in the middle was another Buddha statue,
flanked by soda machines, where people were actually praying. There in the
middle of the gift shop within a stone’s throw of the snack counter, people
were worshipping and paying their respects. There were hundreds of people there
that day, praying and leaving gifts for ancestors past, while tourists stood by
taking pictures of them. Is it weird for a place of worship to also function as
a tourist attraction? Is there something a bit sacrilegious about the whole
thing? As one who paid good money to go to the top of both St. Paul’s Cathedral
and Notre Dame, I’m not sure I’m one to judge…
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