Introduction
There is a saying “You must visit the Chenghuang Temple to get to know Shanghai”. Chenghuang Temple is also called Town’s God Temple and is one of the main Taoist temples in Shanghai with a history of 600 years. “Chenghuang” in Taoist refers to the guardian of the city.
During the Ming Dynasty, Zhangshouyue, the head of Shanghai County, dedicated this temple to the local city god. Then the temple was rebuilt in 1926.
Structure
The area is now a high-rise residence building made of reinforced concretes, with a height of 48 feet and a depth of 63.4 feet. In the front entrance, there are 3 gates and 4 gateposts. The eight immortals are engraved in the decorated archway. Inside the temple, there are large-scale colored rafters, green tiles, red eaves and painting houses. Covering an area of about 20 square meters, Chenghuang Temple today includes nine halls: Huoguang Hall, Jiazi Hall, Caishen Hall, Cihang Hall, Chenghuang Hall, Niangniang Hall, Fumu Hall, Guangsheng Hall and Wenchang Hall.
Folk Performances
There are excellent folk performances in the arena center, such as cock fighting, acrobatic performance and handwriting performance.
Shopping
The Old City God's Temple and the enclosed Yuyuan Gardens are not only famous tourist sites but also popular shopping attractions. There are boutiques, specialties shops, as well as large jewelry stores, department stores and local snack restaurants.