Temple of the Golden Mountain God, Shanghai

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Yuyuan Garden & Bazaar: Cheng Huang Miao Originally the Ginshan Sheng Miao (Temple of the Golden Mountain God), it had been renamed as Cheng Huang Miao (Temple of the City's Gods) in the Ming Dynasty. Since then, the temple had foregone several severe damages, and had each time been properly restored to its former glory. During the latter years of the Qing dynasty, teahouses, street performers, and hawkers formed an extremely lively marketplace in front of the temple. During the Cultural Revolution, the temple was thoroughly destroyed. The surrounding marketplace was given a new name, "Yuyuan Bazaar". The temple was again restored and opened to the public in 1981. Every Chinese city once had its Temple of the Town God, the central shrine for Daoist worship. Shanghai's version dates from 1403 when local official Qin Yubo, who had been posthumously designated as Shanghai's patron town god by the Ming Dynasty Hongwu emperor (A.D. 1328-98), was finally honored with his own temple, though it didn't take on its present name until 1929. During the Cultural Revolution (1966-76), the temple, which had grown to become more of a marketplace, was destroyed. In the early 1990s, the temple and surrounding bazaar area, which encircled part of Yu Yuan, were extensively restored to become one large complex devoted to the god of commerce. The temple's main courtyard is usually jammed with worshippers praying before the statues of Huo Guang (a local military hero) in the front hall, and the town god in the back. The smell of incense is overpowered only by the smell of money wafting from the nearby shops. 城隍是道教中城市的保护神，相传明永乐年间（15世纪初），上海知县张守约将方浜路上的金山神庙（又名霍光行祠）改建成了今天我们所见的城隍庙。1926年重建，殿高4.8丈，深6.33丈，钢筋水泥结构，而彩椽画栋、翠瓦朱檐，规模大增。抗战后，为与新城隍庙（原址在金陵西路连云路口）相区别，故称老城隍庙。老城隍庙艺术竞技馆，内有斗鸡表演、杂技表演及霹雳书法等“中华一绝”的民俗艺术。老城隍庙商场也叫豫园商场，兴起于19世纪中叶，至今已有100多年的历史。商场内道路较窄，建筑多建造于1911年以前（即清代末年），具有浓郁的中国古建筑的风格和特点。整个商场内小商店鳞次栉比，商品琳琅满目，各具特色，顾客熙熙攘攘，保持着中国古老的城镇街市风貌，大凡来上海的中外游客，百分之七十都要来老城隍庙走走。在老城隍庙内，汇集了众多的上海地方小吃，绿波廊的特色点心，松月楼的素菜包，桂花厅的鸽蛋圆子，松云楼的八宝饭，还有南翔小笼汤包和酒酿圆子，真可称得上是小吃王国了。在城隍庙，您还能买到许多上海地方的特色商品和食品，如有止咳、化痰、润喉、开胃功效的梨膏糖和具有60年制作历史的五香豆等，深受国内外游客的欢迎。与城隍庙商场毗邻的豫园，始建于明嘉靖三十八年（公元1559年），园林布局具有吴越建筑特点，保存完整，占地40余亩，向有“城市山林”之誉。园内有48处景点构成，荷花池和九曲桥、大假山、万花楼、点春堂、会景楼、玉玲珑、得月楼、内园等景区。其中点春堂为小刀会起义军的城北指挥部。

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