Chenxiangge, the Agarwood Pavilion

In front of you is Chenxiangge, the “Agarwood Pavilion”. It is a small temple tucked among the houses of the Old City, and almost always calmer than the bustling bazaar you have just left.

1The shipwreck statue

The temple is linked to the same family as the Yu Garden. In 1600, Pan Yunduan had a pavilion built here, next to his residence, to house an image of Guanyin, the Buddhist figure of compassion, carved from agarwood, a dark, fragrant and highly prized wood.

According to the account handed down at the temple, Pan Yunduan recovered the statue from a boat sunk in the Huai River while he was directing works on its banks, and brought it to Shanghai to protect his family.

Where the statue came from and how it ended up on that boat are questions the legend leaves unanswered.

2Ruin and rebuilding

The pavilion collapsed at the end of the Ming dynasty. It was rebuilt on this site in 1801 and gained new halls during the nineteenth century. In the Cultural Revolution its images were destroyed, the agarwood Guanyin among them, and the building was used as a workshop. Worship resumed in the 1980s; in 1992 a new agarwood Guanyin was installed and the temple became a convent of Buddhist nuns.

If you're ready for dinner, some of the oldest restaurants in the Old City are just around the corner.

3What to look for

• The sign with the three characters of its name.
• The dragons and figures on the roof.
• The scent of incense, which drifts out to the street.