Shanghai’s Sense of Spirituality

Shanghai, by virtue of its cosmopolitan nature, has a unique religious heritage. There are many religious buildings and institutions scattered around the city. Taoism, commonly referred to as the "native religion" of China, has a presence in Shanghai in the form of several temples, the largest being the City God Temple, in the heart of the old city. Buddhism has had a presence in the city since ancient times and the Longhua Temple is the largest temple in Shanghai. The Jade Buddha Temple, another important site, is named after a large statue of Buddha carved out of jade and prominently displayed in the temple. The Muslim population is fairly large and has been active for centuries. Their community is served by a number of mosques, both large and small. Christianity has also played a major factor in the spiritual life of Shanghai – with missionaries streaming into the city after it was opened for trade to the West in the mid-1800s. Catholic churches, such as St Ignatius Cathedral in Xujiahui, still have very active congregations. The She Shan Cathedral is the only active Christian pilgrimage site in China and is the largest Christian church building in East Asia. There were once sizeable Jewish and Eastern Orthodox populations in Shanghai and synagogues, such as the Ohel Rachel Synagogue, still pay tribute to the influence of the Jewish faith. Shanghai is currently one of the biggest cities of the world, with over 20 million inhabitants. It`s name could be translated as ‘by the sea’. Already for centuries, Shanghai had a busy port for coastal traffic and, with the end of the opium war with Great Britain in 1842 also for foreign vessels. After the communist revolution, a lot of companies moved their headquarters towards the much more free Hong Kong. But in the eighties, economic reforms took place, resulting in the port of Shanghai becoming the biggest and busiest in the world in 2004. On our way back to sea you can see countless shipyards, which are situated even in the middle of the city. Today China produces more than 30% of all the ships worldwide.