Jade Buddha Temple

After our exciting morning at the Shanghai Central Police Station, John can tell I need some normality back in my life, this has affected me deeply, going to a police station, confronting the people, restless night, tears, anxiety it is all there for me, so he takes me to McDonald's, now you might think McDonald's??  Really??  But if you think about it McDonald's no matter where you are in the world it is all the same, it has the same colour scheme, decor, menu, uniforms and there is a familiarity with it and with that familiarity comes a sense of peace.  Not sure I ever enjoyed McDonald's so much in my life.

Then with our $600RMB we decided to go to the Jade Buddha Temple as our last outing in China before our departure tomorrow, the temple is set in amongst homes and buildings and shops and surrounded by beggars.  It is hard to get out of your taxi and see so many of them come up to you, dragging crying children, dragging legs that don't work and all of them at you.  My usual response would be heartbreak and wanting to give them all we could.  My response now is one of compassion but a better ability to walk away, probably not the best thing I could ever have gotten out of this trip but its something I must be honest about this trip has changed me, it has made me a harder person.

The temple is beautiful, and we wander around freely inside without the fear of being ambushed by sellers of Rolex and Prada knock offs.  The Jade Buddha is beautiful and the only Buddha in the temple where photography is not allowed, of course we respect their wishes however along comes an American man who pulls out his camera and takes a selfie with the Buddha, I say to him 'No photography' and he just looks at me like I have two heads, Americans really make me want to kill people.  They are so far up their own arses its amazing they can see in front of them.

We witness Monks chanting in the Main Hall and it is a really peaceful and soul settling experience, something I am so glad we did on our last day, made me forget some of what had happened in the last 48 hours and put things back into perspective.