Margherita joined the Internship Program after studying mandarin in Shanghai for a few months. She is passionate about Chinese culture and loved her experience discovering the hidden treasures of the Jade Buddha Temple.

The original temple dates from 1882, it has been destroyed and rebuilt over the past century, but what makes it so special? Its two Buddha statues are entirely made of jade.
The Jade Buddha Temple in Shanghai is an active temple, with 70 resident monks at the last count. The 70 monks who live and work there can sometimes be seen worshipping.
Last Sunday, just by walking through the halls of prayer, we had the chance to attend a ceremony made of songs and rituals. Even for us who are not Buddhist, it was very interesting and exciting to witness this event.
Then we had two nice surprises in this temple. The first one was a gigantic room that made me think of a ballroom, whose walls were covered with small statues of Buddha. The second surprise was the little pond, where it was pleasant to sit a few minutes, feed the fish and enjoy the silence – such a rare thing in Shanghai. An amazing thing is that is the temple, located in the middle of the city, gave us absolute tranquility.

We ended our trip by viewing the famous statues. The two precious jade Buddhist statues are not only rare cultural relics but also porcelain artworks. Both the Sitting Buddha and the Recumbent Buddha are carved with whole white jade. The Sitting Buddha is almost 2 metres tall. The Recumbent Buddha is 96 centimeters long, lying in a pose named the 'lucky repose'.

This place is part of history and full of memories; also it was amazing to see Chinese people praying and the monks singing. Shanghai is full of surprises, some places are crowded, and others empty; sometimes it is very alive but it can also be calm. It is a weird and romantic city at the same time.