Elizabeth tours a Pudong village and temple Nov 11, 2010

I know! Another outing! It was a busy week. Better to be busy than bored, that's what I say.

This tour was more informal than previous ones. It was led by a long-term expat who knows this area. Again, you have seen this type of scenery before, so I will try and keep this post short. Nonetheless, I saw things that were unusual and new to me, and I hope to you, too. You can always skip over the parts that you find dull and repetitive.

Fields in the village with the fancy homes of Pudong in the distance.

Houses in the village

Piled-up fire wood, fuel for the water heater

The aforementioned water heater, the only source of hot water for the village. There was more than one heater, but the point is, there is no running hot water in the houses.

Local "dollar store"on wheels, selling toys, shoe inserts, fly swatters, pantyhose, dish towels and so on.

Canal, one of the many cutting through the village

Adorable boy with his grandmother

Drying meat. Yes, really. It's chicken. I know it was a cool day, but still! Salmonella city.

An older house

Cotton! This Canadian girl had never seen cotton growing before. So cool!

Farmers in their field

Cotton and something else I couldn't identify drying in the sun.

Ducks

 Local businesses advertising on the side of the building.

Man weaving baskets

More local livestock

Pleasant goat

Local temple

You've seen this sort of structure before.

Pagoda... 

 ... and its interior

Gallery of paintings

No idea who these people were, I imagine important religious people of some sort. How's that for an intelligent guess?

Beautiful blues

 Inside the minor temple

Love the banners

Memorial, obviously

Worshipper

Outbuilding

Such a tropical setting! The colours, the palm trees.

Inside the main temple

 Close up of middle Buddha 

The usual assortment of smaller statues to the right of the big statues

The most remarkable aspect of this tour was that everything, the village, the temple, the fields, the livestock, was so close to where I live in Shanghai. Here is this brand spanking new development, Pudong, and just half an hour away, the countryside and a completely different way of life.

It is a very good contrast for me to keep in mind.