Longhua Temple

Started off the day with eating out for breakfast with my grandparents. We had these things called sheng jian which are basically potstickers filled with meat and soup. It was my first time ever trying them and they tasted great! I'm trying to venture out with my taste buds while I'm here.

I then headed to another shopping complex with my relatives. We looked around and I bought some sunglasses for my friends back home because they're very cheap here. In fact, if you can bargain well, everything is cheap here.

For lunch, we went to this place that was completely vegetarian because it was next to a temple. They used food such as mushrooms and tofu and made them seem like meat dishes. It was extremely delicious to my surprise. I now have much more appreciation for veggies and what they can do!

Next to the restaurant was Longhua Temple, the largest temple in Shanghai, and we paid it a visit. There were tons of people praying, and since I'm not Buddhist, it was interesting to see how the people bowed and held their incense in certain ways. When finished, the people would throw their incense into a huge pile that was burning. Smoke was everywhere and the smell was so strong that it made my eyes and throat very dry.

I was definitely in awe with how elaborate and intricate the statues were. There were many different buildings, each containing different gods. I went around taking pictures of each and I thought this one was the coolest. Hopefully I didn't offend anyone by snapping pictures!

The rest of my day was pretty relaxed. I went with my relatives to pick my parents up at the airport. They're now here in Shanghai with me and we'll spend the rest of vacation together.