Day 6 Foshan, Guangzhou

By Jamyang Puntsog on October 31, 2025 • ( Leave a comment )

The first stop today is an ancestral temple. It houses a defunct taoist temple where you get to see traditional statues of Chinese deities up close without fear of offending worshippers.

Auxillary deities are depicted as slightly bowed. In the past we only get to see the statues from outside. So it will visually look like all the minor deities are bowing to the main shrine.

This is how ancient Chinese believe the thunder god looks like. Hitting the chisel with a hammer produce thunder.

The main deity sits in the center. Notice the slightly bowed statue flanking it?

Sign used during a possession with messages telling evil forces to retreat, to be silenced, and to also name the deities.

Ornate carvings dating hundreds of years ago

Compared to a small local shrine decorated with broken porcelain , this temple is decorated with stone carvings- reflecting it’s prominence and status.

Lunch is dim sum and I made the mistake of eating at a famous restaurant chain. It tasted delicious but without the finesse. Like delicious heat up food…

Dimsum (点心）in Chinese means ‘to touch your heart’. So it should be handmade by the chef. The effort of crafting bite size pieces of food with unique flavours and exquisite shapes is meant to touch you. Factory made dimsum produced by machine cannot achieve that.

After lunch, it’s time to explore a commercialized old quarter.(Foshan Lingnan Tiandi 佛山岭南天地）

Starbucks seems to make it a mission to occupy beautiful old buildings in China. As you sip coffee, imagine the past and people of olden days going about their day in the space you are sitting.

Next is a newly renovated Buddhist temple. (Ren shou monastery 仁寿寺）. They retained the original pagoda. Otherwise, everything is brand new. I think it’s pending the official opening.

Intricate wood carvings adorn the ceiling.

The new generation artists have gone through much effort to reference celebrated ancient statues and create similar art pieces today. The disadvantage of this is that all modern Buddhist statues appear to be from the same cookie mould. I hope they will inject some individualities and interpretation into their art.

Next is a local pet and flower market.

Pets on sale are cramped into tiny cages and tanks here. Including dogs, cats, hamsters, rabbits etc

In a shopping mall, pets enjoy better treatment staying in sanitized large display window in an air conditioned environment. Naturally those cost a bomb.

I can imagine a kid from a poor family picking a duckling from the cramped cage and loving it with all his heart. My first pet was a chick brought from a similar market 50 years ago. Different kids from different worlds and different standards in living but with the same heart to own a pet and love it…

May all be well and happy.