Vacation's over

On my walk to school this morning (yes, I can walk to school from our new place!), I had a freak-out moment. This extended vacation -- during which I sometimes felt like Eloise (even though I was at the Ascott in Shanghai instead of the Plaza in New York City) -- is over. I live in China now. Permanently. Or at least for the foreseeable future. My place of residence, my "home" is in Shanghai. When people ask me where I live, I'll have to tell them, "Shanghai, China." Madness. 

And then I walked by the Jing'an Temple; I took a deep breath, and felt a sense of awe and calm. I live in China! The feeling was very similar to how I felt in San Francisco every time I laid eyes on the Golden Gate Bridge. I used to say (sometimes aloud), "I live in SF!" The view never got old, just like walking by the Jing'an Temple every day on my way to class will likely never get old.  

Some of you have requested pics of our place, but I think I'll wait until we get our shipment from the States to take some (it's due to arrive on the fourth of July; fitting, no?). Right now, the apartment doesn't look much different from a hotel room filled with bland furniture and ugly lamps.

In case you don't know, this is Eloise. She is six. She is a city child. She lives at the Plaza.

Source: prettystuff.tumblr.com via Claire on Pinterest

Peace Amidst Chaos

Continuing to play the tourist, I recently visited the Jing'an Temple located in Jing'an (fitting), home to fancy malls, high-end stores, five-star hotels and a number of office buildings, including Mike's. It's near the Shanghai Exhibition Centre, which is little more than a pretty building (for history buffs, it was built as the Palace of Sino-Soviet Friendship; the star topping the building was a gift from the Russians to their communist counterparts).   

The Jing'an Temple is this beautiful sanctuary in the middle of commercial chaos. Leaving behind the billboards, the lights, the traffic, the noise, you step into peace. 

Below are the temple's residents and their devotees.  

Sakyamuni, created out of white jade, 3.87 meters high, 11 tons

Guanyin Bodhisattva, created out of thousand-year-old camphov wood, 6.2 meters high, 5 tons

Buddha, created out of silver, 8.8 meters high, 15 tons

Can you even make out the temple in the picture below, beyond the lanes of traffic and in between the high-rises? Certainly a nice little escape within the city.