A walking tour of Pudong, Shanghai

From the spiky Oriental Pearl Tower to the pagoda-style Jin Mao Tower, Pudong is home to some of Shanghai’s most distinctive architecture. Located east of the HuangPu River (Pudong directly translates to ‘East of the river’), it’s best known for the glitzy Lujiazui financial area the Shanghai Stock Exchange and its array of striking skyscrapers.

Begin on a high at Shanghai Financial Center

Start your day with a trip to the sky-high Shanghai World Financial Center, easily accessible from Lujiazui subway station. Its distinctive ‘bottle opener’ design stands out across The Bund and the building offers three different observation decks. Most noteworthy is the one on the 100th floor, said to be the highest observatory in the world. If you happen to visit in the evening to watch the sun go down and you’re feeling flush, head to the Park Hyatt Shanghai, which is also housed in the building. Its 100 Century Avenue Bar serves up cocktails that are almost as exquisite as the view.

Get an Adrenaline Rush at Jin Mao Tower

Just a three-minute stroll from the Shanghai World Financial Center is the Postmodern masterpiece Jin Mao Tower. Adrenaline junkies should make their way up the tiered tower to the 88th floor to brave the outside glass walkway, which is completely handrail-free. Visitors are safely harnessed to the edge, allowing them to teeter across the open glazed path and peer down to truly spectacular views below.

Escape Reality at Oriental Pearl Tower

Just steps away from Super Brand Mall is the final skyscraper on this walking tour: the Oriental Pearl Tower – one of Shanghai’s most famous landmarks. While its height is now eclipsed by Jin Mao Tower and Shanghai Tower, Oriental Pearl Tower still has plenty to offer tourists. The upper sphere of the Radio and TV tower is home to a glass-bottomed corridor, while in the basement, visitors are immersed in Shanghai’s history through the Shanghai Municipal History Museum. Make sure you find time to ride the tower’s very own virtual reality roller coaster, which whizzes you along Shanghai’s skyline.

Bund Sightseeing Tunnel

Pudong is only part of what The Bund area has to offer, so finish your walking tour by heading to the Bund Sightseeing Tunnel, which is located at the south side of the Oriental Pearl Tower. This futuristic tunnel is the quickest and most exciting way to cross the river and reach Puxi (translated as ‘West Bank’). The three- to five-minute Maglev train combines rapid speeds with a psychedelic light show.

Read more: Find the best Xiaolongbao in Shanghai

Source The Culture Trip

Worth-visiting temples in Sichuan, China

Sichuan is one of the most beautiful provinces in China, and also has deep historical roots in both Buddhism and Taoism. Here are the province’s most gorgeous and venerated places of worship.

Wenshu Monastery

By far one of the best preserved temples in Chengdu, the Wenshu Monastery is located in the heart of Chengdu and is still home to 80 monks. Initially built during the Southern Dynasty, this temple covers a sprawling area of more than 60,000 square meters (close to 65,000 feet), with five complexes of buildings and gardens and more than 180 different rooms. You’ll also find more than 300 different Buddhas from several different dynasties, along with other precious artifacts, including Buddha scriptures written in gold and a 300-year-old monk robe woven by a royal concubine from the Ming Dynasty. At the very least, the teahouse is a great place to sit and drink tea before visiting the vegetarian restaurant in the back.

Baoguang Temple

Set in the far northern suburb of the city, this beautiful Buddhist temple is made up of a stupa, five halls and sixteen courtyards. On top of that, it is surrounded by ancient trees and verdant greenery. Often, this temple is quite busy, full of tourists drawn to the legend that their wishes will come true after praying at this temple. In fact, in the front square, there’s a big wall inscribed with the character for “Good Fortune.” The long queue of people in front are waiting to walk forward to touch the wall with their eyes closed for a chance at good fortune for the year. The rest of the temple is just as fascinating. Be sure not to miss the precarious leaning pagoda that continues to defy gravity.

Zhaojue Temple

Nestled near the Chengdu Zoo, Zhaojue is a key Buddhist temple in China and an important place for Buddhist practitioners. With more than 1,000 years of history, this monastery has been host to a number of renowned monks, who went out to establish temples in Japan and Southeast Asia. It was also once the home of Mr. Zhang Daqian, one of the best-known and most prodigious Chinese artists of the twentieth century. Here, he devoted himself to the study of painting and created a great number of famous works. The temple itself features lovely grounds and a welcome respite from the city’s hubbub.

Mount Qingcheng

A 45 minute train ride from the center of Chengdu will drop you near the foot of the verdant Mount Qingcheng, known as one of the four original birthplaces of Taoism in China. Its fame draws not only from the beauty of its 36 peaks, but also from Taoist mythology. The founder of Taoism, Zhao Daoling, thought the serene natural landscape of Mount Qingcheng was the perfect home for the development and prosperity of Taoism.

During the Jin and Tang dynasties, many temples were built on the mountain. It became an important intellectual and spiritual center for Taoism in the seventeenth century. Today, the mountain is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and you can see more than a dozen Taoist temples built into the front of the mountain (the back part of the mountain is better for natural scenery). The temples were built to represent the traditional architecture of Western Sichuan, including the Erwang Temple, the Fulong Temple, and the Changdao Temple.

To get there, take a train from Chengdu to Qingcheng town center (about 45 minutes) – there you’ll see an army of tuk tuks that will take you to the base of the mountain (Qiánshān, 前山).

Mount Heming

Set just 70 kilometers (43 miles) from Chengdu is beautiful Mount Heming. The mountain is widely known as the birthplace of Taoism after Zhao Daoling founded the “Way of the Celestial Masters” sect of Taoism here in 142 AD. This was when Laozi was said to have descended and ordered Daoling to establish a new covenant between the true gods of Taoism and the people. At its height, the movement controlled a theocratic state in Sichuan.

The mountain itself spans more than 120 kilometers (75 miles), and is so named because it looks like a crane that is about to take flight. In addition to the beautiful natural scenery, the mountain is covered in a variety of temples and halls tucked into crevasses and perched on vistas. The most famous is probably Wenchang Palace (文昌宫), a peaceful place that’s perfect for reflection and rest.

To get there, take a train from the center of Chengdu to the town of Heming. From there, you can take a short taxi ride to the foot of the mountain.

Emei Mountain

The beautiful Emei Shan (Éméi shān, 峨眉山) is one of the four sacred Buddhist mountains of China, featuring incredible natural scenery and breathtaking vistas. It also houses eight fantastic temples that still hold important Buddhist artifacts. One of the most magnificent is the Wannian Temple (Wàn nián sì, 万年寺), which translates to English as “Ten Thousand Year Temple.” Built during the Jin Dynasty (265-420 AD), it is nationally renowned for housing an amazing Buddha statue. It is still the largest temple in China, weighing more than 62 tons and standing eight meters (26 ft) tall.

See more: Top Sichuan street food to try in Chengdu, China

Source: Internet

Visit temples and shrines in Tokyo, Japan

The shrines and temples of Tokyo attract thousands of visitors each year. While many have been rebuilt since their founding due to fire, earthquakes or war, they still retain their splendor. Here are five of the best.

Zōjō-ji

San’en-zan Zōjō-ji is an important temple to Jōdo Buddhists. During the Tokugawa Shogunate, it was the burial site of six former shoguns, and today you can find those graves in the Taitoku-in Mausoleum or the cemetery out back, with two designated as Important Cultural Properties of Japan. Parents also come here to choose a statue in the garden to decorate in order to say goodbye and ease their child’s transition to the afterlife. While businesses and surrounding enterprises have reclaimed much of the temple’s original property, it still retains much of its former glory and is worth a visit when in Tokyo.

Kanda Shrine

The iconic red Kanda Shrine, also known as Kanda Myojin, has played an important role in Tokyo Shinto worship since the Edo Period. The shrine is situated in downtown Chiyoda-ku, and the kami (spirits) enshrined here include two of the Seven Gods of Fortune, making this an ideal place to pray for wealth and success in business. Interestingly, due to its proximity to Akihabara, Kanda Shrine has also become popular with the tech crowd, who purchase charms to ward off damages to their electronics.

Read more: Places to visit in Meguro, Tokyo

Sensō-ji

Located in the historic Asakusa neighborhood, directly beside the famous Asakusa Shrine, Sensō-ji is the oldest and most visited temple in the city with visitors coming from both Japan and abroad. The path to the temple is lined with stalls, small shops and vendors selling traditional wares and snacks and is an area popular among tourists looking to dress up in kimono. The grounds of the Buddhist temple are also home to Chingo-dō, the Tanuki Temple. Tanukis are Japanese raccoon dogs thought to bring good luck and protect homes and businesses from fire and theft. You can access the Tanuki Temple via a separate entrance on Dembō-in-dōri.

Nogi Shrine, Shinto Shrine

In 1912, General Nogi Maresuke and his wife Shizuko committed ritual suicide in this spot after learning about the death of Emperor Meiji. The two are now enshrined here, and the general is worshipped for his honor and nobility. Having been designed in the 20th century and rebuilt after World War II, Nogi Shrine reminds us that not all shrines and not all kami must be centuries old in order to be worthy of worship.

Yasukuni Shrine

The Imperial Shrine of Yasukuni honors the souls of those who lost their lives in war while fighting for Japan. Unfortunately, the shrine-war memorial has become a source of controversy, especially among neighboring Asian countries, since many of those enshrined and honored here are listed as Class-A war criminals. Despite this, Yasukuni Shrine plays host to multiple religious and festival occasions throughout the year, including an annual spring festival and Mitama Festival, where visitors come to pray to their lost relatives and friends.

Source The Culture Trip