Here we are at the Jade Buddha Temple. This is the happy Buddha, not the Jade Buddha. You rub his belly for luck.
An outdoor shot of the temple. The cab driver dropped us off at the exit, which is around the corner from the entrance. We tried to go in the exit and the guard yelled at us, so we wandered up and down the exit block for a while before we figured it out.
The temple was a collection of at least 5 different buildings. This one housed the Hall of Kings and some other Buddhas. There were also
boddhavistas, but I'm not sure what the difference is between those and the Buddhas. Except our guide said men usually pray to Buddha and women to
boddavista.
A pretty wood carving on the temple wall.
Upstairs in the Jade Buddha's temple. Unfortunately, you're not allowed to take pictures of the Jade Buddha, but it was pretty. Very big, and carved entirely of white jade. Plus, his room was air-conditioned so we contemplated his beauty for a long while.
Praying at the temple.
A Buddha. You really can get taken to the cleaners at this temple. First, we paid the admission fee. I can't remember how much it was, but it was pretty reasonable. Then we got a free English-speaking guide, which honestly was nice. She was sweet. But then the "end" of the tour is a souvenir shop, but it's dolled up to look like a museum. (That was where the happy Buddha was.) So another guide tries to get you to buy anything and everything that you look at or seem interested in and they say that all the profits are for charity. But this is China, so I don't really believe them. Then, after buying something (natch) we went back outside and were guided toward the Jade Buddha (we hadn't seen him yet) and then we found out we had to buy another set of tickets for that. What a racket. But both the "museum" and the Jade temple had A/C, so I wasn't complaining that day! Plus, our paintings are really cool. The guy just used his hands (no brushes) dipped in ink. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen him demonstrating.
I think these are some of the kings in the Hall of Kings. There were 10 altogether.
More kings.
More Buddhas.
This wall was covered with carvings of
boddhavistas. The Buddha in the middle is standing on the head of a turtle. In Buddhism, the turtle represents the world.
Here we are at the Jade Buddha Temple. This is the happy Buddha, not the Jade Buddha. You rub his belly for luck.
An outdoor shot of the temple. The cab driver dropped us off at the exit, which is around the corner from the entrance. We tried to go in the exit and the guard yelled at us, so we wandered up and down the exit block for a while before we figured it out.
The temple was a collection of at least 5 different buildings. This one housed the Hall of Kings and some other Buddhas. There were also boddhavistas, but I'm not sure what the difference is between those and the Buddhas. Except our guide said men usually pray to Buddha and women to boddavista.
A pretty wood carving on the temple wall.
Upstairs in the Jade Buddha's temple. Unfortunately, you're not allowed to take pictures of the Jade Buddha, but it was pretty. Very big, and carved entirely of white jade. Plus, his room was air-conditioned so we contemplated his beauty for a long while.
Praying at the temple.
A Buddha. You really can get taken to the cleaners at this temple. First, we paid the admission fee. I can't remember how much it was, but it was pretty reasonable. Then we got a free English-speaking guide, which honestly was nice. She was sweet. But then the "end" of the tour is a souvenir shop, but it's dolled up to look like a museum. (That was where the happy Buddha was.) So another guide tries to get you to buy anything and everything that you look at or seem interested in and they say that all the profits are for charity. But this is China, so I don't really believe them. Then, after buying something (natch) we went back outside and were guided toward the Jade Buddha (we hadn't seen him yet) and then we found out we had to buy another set of tickets for that. What a racket. But both the "museum" and the Jade temple had A/C, so I wasn't complaining that day! Plus, our paintings are really cool. The guy just used his hands (no brushes) dipped in ink. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen him demonstrating.
I think these are some of the kings in the Hall of Kings. There were 10 altogether.
More kings.
More Buddhas.
This wall was covered with carvings of boddhavistas. The Buddha in the middle is standing on the head of a turtle. In Buddhism, the turtle represents the world.
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