The City God Temple

In front of you is the City God Temple, in Chinese Chenghuang Miao. Every Chinese city had its guardian god, a sort of mayor of the afterlife who watched over the living and judged the souls of the dead. Shanghai's became the centre of life in the Old City.

1From island shrine to city temple

The building began as the Jinshan Temple, dedicated to the spirit of an island off the coast. In 1403, under the Yongle Emperor, it became the City God Temple. A market of shops and stalls grew up around it, the origin of today's bazaar. The sign over the entrance, “Baozhang haiyu”, means “protect this corner by the sea”.

2Three guardians

Three figures are worshipped here. Huo Guang, a minister of the Han dynasty, was the first. Qin Yubo, a fourteenth-century scholar, twice refused the summons of the first Ming emperor before accepting office, and after his death he was named the city's god.

According to tradition, the emperor said of him: “In life he would not be my minister; in death he shall guard my land.”

The third is Chen Huacheng, the general who died in 1842 defending the mouth of the river against the British during the Opium War.

The temple was closed during the Cultural Revolution and its main hall even became a jewellery shop. It returned to Taoist worship in 1994 and was restored in 2006.

3What to look for

• The sign over the entrance, with its four gold characters.
• The incense smoke in the courtyard, if you go in.
• The roofs with upturned eaves and figures at the tips.