JADE TEMPLE AND BAZAARS OF SHANGHAI,CHINA JOURNEY

 We woke up the next day much refreshed, I looked out of our window and could see that the city had already woken up and from our room the people appeared like ants busy hurrying to work.

Breakfast was a continental one with lot of varieties of soups, noodles and rice items ,we had eggs, yoghurt and fruits our saviour diet when out of India. At the allotted time all of us got into the 12 seater AC minivan which was very comfortable and roomy 

Shanghai, is China’s largest city and a global financial hub. It is one of the world's largest seaports and a major industrial and commercial centre of China.

The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu river flowing through it and splitting the city into two districts the Pudong and Puxi.

With a population of 24.28 million as of 2019, Shanghai is the most populous city in the entire world.

Though originally a fishing village and market town, Shanghai grew in importance in the 19th century due to both domestic and foreign trade and its favorable port location

It has the largest metro network of any city in the world and the second highest number of billionaires of any city in the world as per research 

As our van swept through the Shanghai streets , the most remarkable thing we noticed were the vast number of sky scrapers .

China has the largest number of tall buildings ,more than 1400 skyscrapers above 292 ft of which 48 are

super tall ,  more than 984 ft which is a no mean feat for any country

The tallest tower in China is currently the Shanghai Tower standing at a height of 2,073 ft, it is the second tallest building in the world, Burj Khalifa in Dubai being the tallest skyscraper in the world, with a height of 2,722 ft. 

The roads were very well laid and there was a smooth flow of traffic ,the side lanes were bustling with multiple types of cycles, scooters and E bikes .

The traffic junctions and roads were lined with beautiful greenery ,art works and flowering plants

We reached the famous jade Buddha temple nestled amidst the tall high rise buildings in the downtown, it had a Song-dynasty-style architecture with precise complex and harmonious structure.  

The temple was built in 1882 and has two famous Jade statues of the Sakyamuni Buddha and various ancient sculptures, rare paintings and Buddhist scriptures.

The 2 Jade buddhas were imported to Shanghai from Myanmar by sea, one reclining and one sitting upright, both could be found in different parts of the temple.

The reclining buddha was in white jade and smaller, the sitting buddha was in green jade,1.95 meters tall ,weighing 3 tons and kept in an airconditioned room where no photography is allowed.

 Jade Buddha was exquisitely carved, 1.95 meters tall with a well-rounded face, crescent-shaped eyebrows, half-opened eyes looking down, a straight nose, and a closed mouth with lips up. Left hand was on the left leg and right hand dropping down naturally.

We entered the Hall of Heavenly Kings and in front of the hall, there sat Maitreya Buddha with a smiling face, it is believed that he will appear on Earth in the future.

Behind the statue of Maitreya, there was statue of Skanda protector of the temple with vajra pestle 

On both sides of the hall were the Four Heavenly Kings representing favorable east ,west ,north and south.

Grand Hall was the main part of Jade Buddha Temple with three holy Buddha statues in sitting posture, Sakyamuni Buddha in the middle, Amitabha on the left, and Medicine Guru Buddha on the right. 

All were about four meters tall with a very peaceful expression. Behind the Three Golden Buddha, there was the statue of Avalokitesvara a bodhisattva who embodies the compassion of all Buddha.

There were Gods of the Twenty Heavens, covered in gold, lining the eastern and western sides of the Grand Hall. 18 unique golden arhats stood in two groups of nine outside of the hall.

I was particularly impressed by the peace prevailing and the clean surroundings I even saw a cat curled up and sleeping in front of Buddha on a small bench meant for the devotees to kneel and pray

People were lighting candles and incense sticks, praying and buying the good luck charms being sold in the stalls , alas no one knew what crisis year 2019 was going to bring to the world

 

While we were leaving the temple premises we found thorough cleaning being done by the workers who were busy in their work

We were then taken to a pearl factory where we were shown how pearls are extracted from the molluscs we being from the pearl city had to show our expertise by selecting a pearl strand for the others .

I had to use all my tact to tell my co travellers that the pearls were overpriced as they usually are in such outlets .

If we go to Charminar in Hyderabad, the street vendors sell a pearl strand for 10 rupees and shop keepers sell them for thousands to lakhs of rupees, it is very difficult to guess the worth of pearls ,not all of us can dare to perform the biting the pearl test .

Pearls are formed when irritants like sand finds its way into the shell of a mollusc which starts producing layers of nacre around the irritant.

In natural pearls the irritant generally comes from the water it is surrounded by and most natural pearls are found in the Persian Gulf and as the majority of them have already been harvested, natural pearls are tremendously rare

Cultured Pearls are grown in a pearl farm both in salt and fresh water. Molluscs are farm raised and once they are old enough, a technician implants a mother-of-pearl bead. 

The molluscs are then returned to the water and cared for while the pearls are allowed to form, however not all molluscs produce uniform good quality pearls 

The factory also had different jades, the Chinese treasure jade and it has evolved into an artistic tradition that has flourished for more than 3,000 years 

The name jade comes from the Spanish expression piedra de ijada literally “stone of the pain in the side.” Early Spanish explorers named it after they saw natives holding pieces of the stone to their sides to cure or relieve various aches and pains.

Jade is basically of two types ,Jadeite jade and Nephrite jade which has its cultural roots in the smoke-dimmed caves and huts that sheltered prehistoric humans

Jadeite also symbolizes prosperity, success, and good luck.

The most popular kind of jade in Chinese culture is green jade, which has an emerald hue. 

Jade is important to Chinese culture because of its beauty, practical use, and social value, other colors of jade are yellow and white

The most expensive type of jade, known as imperial jade, comes from Myanmar, but some can be found in parts of Mexico and Russia. It’s cost starts from $1,000 per carat , has a deep green color and is very rare.

SHANGHAI HERE WE COME ! CHINA JOURNEY

 In first week of June 2019 we started for China by Malaysian Airlines, we would be first going to Kuala Lumpur and taking the connecting flight to Shanghai. As is usual in an international travel we chose Asian Vegetarian Meal to be safe. 

I notice that each time we fly abroad we usually are very busy arranging our household affairs, packing necessary things and have to reach the airport at least 3 hours before departure which is pretty taxing and leaves us drained even before the holiday starts.

After our flight for Kuala Lumpur started at Rajiv Gandhi International airport , we settled down in our seats and fell asleep in exhaustion . Suddenly we heard tinkling of glasses and soft voices of air hostesses calling out names of passengers who ordered special meal .

Sometimes I really wonder should we just put on a don’t disturb eye pad and sleep our way through the entire flight or yield to temptation and accept the trays and taste some of the dishes served

So after duly yielding to the allurement of Paisa Vasool concept, we tasted some of the dishes and tried to take a nap. In 4 and a half hours we reached Kuala Lumpur popularly called K.L ,  local time there was 2 and half hours ahead ,so what should have been 4.30 am as per our watches was nearly 7 am .

Indeed these changing time zones are very confusing and exhausting, my husband and I decided early in our overseas journeys that he would keep changing his watch timings as per local time and I would stick to Mera Bharath Mahaan one ,I am sure my watch is having the last laugh ,LOL !

I feel we grow fonder of our mother country when we fly out of it. Sometimes I wonder aloud as to what was happening in our city and how our children were faring ,only to be chided by my practical hubby that heavens were not going to fall on our place in this short duration of our absence 

We went to our final terminal after taking the aero train, being restrained by the luggage limitations and the 15 day stay ahead in the two countries I reluctantly put my shopping soul to sleep and was content doing only window shopping .By then my brain was feeling wooly and wanted me to curl up in a seat and sleep but I convinced it that we had many miles to travel before we slept !

Finally we were in our flight heading to Shanghai and the rigmarole of meals continued , we were in a state of slumber due to jet lag and the journey now took us 5 and half hours to reach Shanghai.

As we had booked aisle seats in both the flight we didn’t have the inconvenience of making others get up and I somehow always manage to while away my time by seeing as many movies as possible irrespective of the language.

As is usually seen in any long flight we had some actively crying babies and few elderly men trying to achieve a walkathon medal

On arrival at Shanghai , before going to the immigration counter we were directed to scanning machines where we scanned our Passports first and did finger scan and thumb scan, while scanning, the fingers had to be placed in between the blue square given on the scanner.

After the scanning, the machines gave an ok slip to be shown at immigration counter along with the passport. There were volunteers waiting to help the needy with the procedure

There was a separate counter at Shanghai for group visa and we had to stand in the sequence as per the list and go one by one to the counter holding our individual passports. My husband gave our original copy to the immigration officer and I followed him and collected the original copy

While exiting from China , officers will collect the group visa from us ,till we were in China we were to take great care of this important document precisely as much as our passports 

After this procedure as informed by our SOTC agent, our guide Mr. Vincent Britto was waiting for us at the notified spot .

Seeing our Indian guide who was fluently conversant in the local language made us feel that he was our angel on earth and we were literally following him like Mary’s little lambs as long as we were in China  

By the time we reached there, a couple from Mumbai had arrived and we waited till the other 4 people arrived from Chennai .

It is the policy of the travel agency to collect and drop all the passengers together , luckily we didn’t have to wait long and we were taken to our hotel Ramada .

We were given time to freshen up and taken to an Indian restaurant which was filled with customers , we had amchi Indian food to our enormous relief and finally rested after a long journey.

WHY I WANTED TO VISIT CHINA ? CHINA JOURNEY

 My husband and I love to see new places and we plan an international trip once in 4 or 5 years. This time we planned on going to China . usually we travel by ourselves and book the trips through a travel agent but we discovered that as we were becoming older, trying out local cuisine and experimenting was becoming risky for our palates and guts, so we selected a travel agent this time for a group tour after much research. We found S.O.T.C very customer friendly and luckily their office was within walking distance from our residence.

As we were proceeding on our travel plans, our agent told us that there was a group tour to China and Japan planned for 15 days. As middle class people usually are , we are also very budget conscious and seeing China and Japan on a single shot sounded very attractive for us

My husband has a patient who is running a Dosa restaurant in Japan and had heard a lot about that country from him. I had my own reasons to visit China . Ever since my childhood I am an avid reader , Pearl.S.Buck is my favorite author and I have read almost all her books .

She lived most of her life in China and it is through her vivid writing I became very fascinated by China which is very similar to our country in its vastness , population and culture

Pearl Sydenstricker Buck (June 26, 1892 – March 6, 1973), also known by her Chinese name Sai Zhenzhu was an American writer and novelist. As the daughter of missionaries to China, and later as a missionary herself, Buck spent most of her life before 1934 there. The family spent their summers in a villa in Kuling town, Mountain Lu, Jiujiang, and it was during this annual pilgrimage that she decided to become a writer. 

Her book The Good Earth was the best-selling novel in the United States in 1931 and 1932 and won the Pulitzer Prize in 1932. In 1938, Buck won the Nobel Prize in Literature "for her rich and truly epic descriptions of peasant life in China and for her biographical masterpieces"; she was the first American woman to win the prize. The novel is about a Chinese family who lives in a village on the cusp of World War I. The book experienced a revival in popularity when Oprah Winfrey brought it to the attention of readers in 2004.

When I asked the SOTC agents about China they had a smile on their face , they said China has changed a lot now and we would be seeing only the tourist spots popularly shown , I thought it doesn’t matter, let me see China personally and form an opinion myself

As I usually do a lot of research into any place before we visit it ,I went through many sites about China 

 Ever since China has opened its doors to the world in the 70’s, it has experienced rapid growth and change. More and more tourists from around the world are flocking to the country to experience its rich history and culture

China has entered its digital era literally with a bang with its highly developed shared transport, high-speed rail, mobile communication and payment and Internet shopping.

Most essential for the China trip is a passport and visa, enough money or a card . Cash is mostly preferred, though hotels and restaurants accept Visa and Mastercard

When traveling in China we may need to pay with cash, official currency of China is the yuan, otherwise known as RMB or colloquially as ‘quai’.

Notes are available for 1RMB, 10RMB, 20RMB, 50RMB, and 100RMB. There are also 1RMB coins available, as well as smaller fraction known as ‘Mao’ for the Chinese leader who adorns them.

We packed clothes as per the weather which was early summer and took our medication too . Our phones we equipped with a VPN as many websites such as Facebook, Google, and Instagram are blocked in China and some applications on access to emails require a VPN connection

We took an adapter for our phones and laptops as China uses 2 or 3 thin-pin sockets at 220V , this we feel is the most important item to pack for any international travel , otherwise we have to hectically search for adapters as soon as we land in that country 

Though in India we have plenty of Chinese restaurants and we love Chinese fried rice and noodles , it has region wise other special dishes like Beijing roast duck, Shanghainese soup dumplings, spicy hotpot rice noodles and dim sum.

The Chinese do not tip and the tourists aren’t expected to either which again is very important to know as in some countries it is rude not to tip

Other than the chain stores and boutiques, we can practice our bargaining skills and not accept the marked price or first price offered.

Finally the D day arrived and we were all set to go , having completed all the formalities of visas for both the countries and insurance ,as we went just before the Covid struck, we were comparatively comfortable, further to our delight we were informed that instead of the big group which we had expected we were going to be in a smaller group of 3 couples and a father and son from Mumbai, Chennai, my husband and me from Hyderabad.

All of us were flying from different cities , enroute touching Kuala Lampur , Singapore and Hongkong 

THE ANANTHA GIRI HILLS ARE BECKONING

 We were looking out for a weekend getaway from Hyderabad and found that Anantha Giri Hills located in Vikarabad district, Telangana State, India around 80 km from Hyderabad was a superb choice 

Vikarabad town got its name after Nawab Viqar-ul-Umrah Bahadur II . One can reach it by road ,as condition of roads are excellent  and most of the youngsters love to go there in two wheeler vehicles .

There are trains and nearest railway station is Vikarabad Junction and from here one needs to hire an auto to go to the hills

It is a  popular hills and mountain destination .The best time to visit Anantha Giri hills is from November to March though it gets a little crowded at this time. July to October is also a good season though one should expect seasonal variations like heavy rains though the hills look beautiful even drenched

Usually tourists make one day trips  from Hyderabad ,starting in the morning and returning by night or some choose to stay for 2 or 3 days chilling out in the green hills  ,enjoying the vibrant sun rises and chilling sunsets 

We started  from home on a Saturday in September at 11 am after a quick breakfast ,The road was  very good , weather cloudy and moderate rain was anticipated according to weather report

We took the route from Masab Tank , onto Chilkur, stopped at Mrugavani for lunch ,We found though highly priced service was fast and food both vegetarian and non vegetarian was tolerably good

As we drove towards Vikarabad  , the clouds played hide and seek and the large old trees on either side of road formed a welcoming cozy canopy .We could see plenty of eager vegetable vendors beside the roads selling their fresh organic fare to passersby ,probably at a much cheaper rate.

The fields  as we passed by were in varying shades of green, nodding their heads in glee and having merry conversations with the fluffy passing clouds above them

On the way to Vikarabad there is a tourist spot ,we stopped to have a glance and a snap ,we saw very tall graceful Eucalyptus trees grown on both sides of the road  ,the air around was filled with the smell of the Eucalyptus trees .

Many  people were stopping and clicking their snaps as it provided an excellent photo opportunity ,I felt that this spot could become very popular and more frequently visited if a cafeteria  and rest rooms were also  made available to the public

We reached Vikarabad in 2 hours and went  up the gentle  undulating hills of Ananthagiri and drove  straight to the Haritha resort where we had booked rooms 

Though the resort had a lot of grounds ,large old trees ,swimming pools ,play area for kids and rooms the condition of the rooms was  quite deplorable ,door locks were not working ,bed covers were torn towel in our room was used by someone  before us and thrown on the bed in a wet state ,the tiny soap given as a compliment was also used ,with wrapper thrown carelessly on the bath room floor 

The only saving grace was the beautiful views from the balconies , we could see green  chequered carpets of fields with serpentine roads running through them ,as it was a rainy season there were mini pools of water glistening like mirrors when the sun shone on them

There was no telephone in the rooms and so we went to the reception and complained about the rooms there was  luke warm  response to our complaints and finally we carried back our towels personally to our rooms .There is a lot to do  to improve management of  the resorts as there was no other commercial accommodation Anantha Giri being a restricted area

We freshened up and started for the Anantha Padmanabha  temple ,just  outside there was a huge statue of Hanuman looking incredibly slim 

Given its terrain and scenery, Ananthagiri hills is also known for its trekking trails. There are 2 most popular Trekking Trials in Ananthagiri, one starting from the temple and the other beginning towards the Kereli

We wanted to see the Musi river origin before it became dark ,we had to climb down quite a distance ,on the way we saw Markandeya caves

The doorway was small and we stooped to enter it ,water was dripping  from the roof and the room was cool as if we were in an AC room ,we could see the statue of the Rishi in a meditative pose ,a flat stone bed and multiple shelves in the walls of the caves probably to keep household objects

We cautiously trekked down the steps made slippery because of rains and wet leaves ,found people coming up huffing and puffing and some sitting on the benches constructed on the sides .There were plenty of monkeys dangerously hanging from the big trees ,eagerly waiting to snatch a coconut or fruit from the tourists

Finally we arrived at the point where Musi river is said to originate , Musi river is also called as Muchkunda River, which originates in Ananthagiri Hills ,90 km to the west of Hyderabad and flows east for almost all of its course. It joins the Krishna River at Wadapally in Nalgonda district after covering a total distance of about 240 km

The Musi river origin was in the form of  multiple Gundas ,these waters also accumulated in the form of a reservoir where we saw turtles and large fish swimming ,few people were trekking further into the forest,our guide told us that lot of movie shoots were done in Ananta Giri specially in the trekking points

There was a selfie point with huge trees whose branches had grown horizontally and standing beneath it we had an eerie feeling of a big green tent above us

There was a very old mango tree supposedly more than 100 years old and of course it merited a snap

We slowly started climbing up the steps which was comparatively tedious ,we also had to keep a cautious lookout for the naughty monkeys waiting for tourists like avid pick pocketeers

We finally came to the Ananta Padmanabha Swamy temple , according to  Skanda Purana it is believed temple was installed by the Rishi Markandeya in Dvapara Yuga. Markandeya Rishi came here for yoga  sadhana as he liked the peaceful atmosphere

 and every day used to go to Kasi from Ananthagiri through a cave to take a holy bath in the Ganges 

One day he was not able to go to Kasi as Dwadasi had entered the early hours of the morning. Lord gave darshan in dream and arranged the Ganges to flow to perform  a holy bath for the holy Rishi.

Rajarshi  Muchikunda after fighting the rakshas came to Ananthagiri to rest and went into deep sleep, He had a boon from Devendra that whoever spoils his sleep will be burnt to ashes. 

It is said that Kalayavana Rakshsa took control of Dwaraka and followed Lord  Krishna and Balarama to Ananthagiri and spoiled the sleep of Muchikunda and in the process got killed. 

Lord Krishna in the form of Sri Anantha Padmanabha Swamy appeared to Muchikunda and blessed him to take a permanent place on earth in the form of the river. 

About 400 years ago, Nizam Nawabs used to come here for hunting and to take rest in the peaceful place of Ananthagiri hills, one day lord Sri Anantha Padmanabha Swamy appeared in dreams of Hyderabad Nawab Mir Osman Ali Khan  and asked him to build the temple for him.  

We saw a dwaja sthambha where lamps are lit in Karthik masam and the pujari there told us that pujaris come from Thiruvanantha Puram ,Kerala to take the lamps from here to Padmanabhaswamy Temple there

On entering the sanctum sanctorum  which is a small cave, the shaligram idol of Lord Vishnu can be seen . An idol of Goddess Lakshmi can also be seen besides Lord Vishnu .The temple was fortunately not  very crowded and we could pray in serenity

As it was getting late we returned back to the resort and rested , morning  to our delight ,we were greeted by the exotic sweet sounds of various birds and a bright sun rise ,after the breakfast we checked out of the rooms and proceeded on our way

After 20 km ride we reached  the Nagasamudram lake  also known as Kotipally reservoir located next to a masonry dam. 

Near the car parking we found a quaint old man offering  free loan of a large hat ingeniously made of leaves ,we took snaps with the hat and his stick and of course gave him some money too , I found his innovative  Idea very good  ,it was definitely better than begging for money from the tourists

 Due to preceding heavy rains ,the lake was full and the water  overflowing over the masonry dam.People were cautiously walking near the small dam and some sitting under the water falling over the dam

There was kayaking facility and make shift stalls offering boiled peanuts, freshly prepared corns fried on coal , omelettes , sandwiches and noodles and last but not the least tasty fried fish freshly caught in the reservoir water

One can easily spend hours looking at the placid water ,enjoy fresh air blowing gently over and the muted voices of those kayaking in the water

We next went to Bugga Ramalingeswara Swamy temple ,where it is said that Lord Rama after slaying Ravan ,to free himself from the guilt of the murder went around installing siva lingas all over the country.

He came to a spot 5 km away from Vikarabad and struck an arrow into the ground ,there was a burst of water which he used to do pooja for the linga he established at this spot .

Tourists and locals flock to this temple in Karthik month and during Sivaratri to worship the shivling

Water here formed a reservoir ,its water was supposed to be full of natural herbs and minerals and so very medicinal

Just next to it was a Surya temple ,both temples could benefit from more funds from the government as the locality was very serene and peaceful

The next item on our agenda was the view point which was 5 km to the temple ,there was a big Nandi  and a Shivling ,this was on the highest point from which the trails extended ,many tourists were braving their way through the hills and snapping photos to take back fond memories of their stay in this beautiful place

We could see the ever present piles of stones representing the desire of people who wish to build own houses ,on the way from this spot to temple there was a road in the forest to a watch tower from which the views were really awesome, we literally felt like birds viewing all the beauty around us

Anantha Giri hills has a lot to offer , many sun set and sun rise points ,temples and tracking trails

On the way back to Hyderabad , we also visited a commercial resort ,the Harivillu resort comprising of tents and 5 triangular  stilt houses ,they take bookings for corporate groups and tourists , we thought it definitely  had potential to develop into a popular resort in future

Altogether our trip to Anantha Giri hills was very relaxing and we came back invigorated and ready for the routine grind

As it is very near Hyderabad one could happily make a day trip or go for a day or two