We recently celebrated our completion of structural renovation at the Shaxi temple with a wine tasting party courtesy of Torres Wines. Guests from nine countries came from Shaxi, Dali and Kunming to enjoy the party on Saturday with a traditional music performance, followed by Sunday brunch on the terrace. We’re looking forward to making the … [Read more…]
The Shaxi temple restaurant is now open Welcome to the Pear Orchard Temple, a newly restored Ming Dynasty folk temple in Yunnan China. This August 16th and 17th we’re celebrating the completion of the Pear Orchard Shaxi temple renovation for the past two years. We are also opening our Shaxi temple restaurant the Pear Blossom, featuring organic and … [Read more…]
Shaxi temple restoration project nears completion This month, I’m so pleased to write that after nearly two and a half years, all structural work on the Sheltered Mercy Nunnery (Pear Orchard Temple) is complete. All that remains are the details of decorative painting. Some big improvements that we made in the past month were a functioning water … [Read more…]
Begin with the end in mind – our Yunnan temple project nears completion In the home stretch, this week our Yunnn temple project began installing lighting after nearly a month of wiring the entire temple for electric for the first time in its history. Every room has multiple power points, lighting fixtures and switches, as well … [Read more…]
Construction continues through Winter at the Shaxi nunnery By the end of December, it was snowing in Northwest Yunnan, but like postal carriers, our team was undeterred by temperatures in the single digits and carried on working at the Shaxi nunnery (Pear Orchard Temple. It did significantly slow our work, particularly on slippery roofs. Water … [Read more…]
One of the largest Shaxi temples undergoes major restoration If you want to restore a crumbling Chinese temple, start with the understanding that it would be cheaper to build a new one from the ground up. This restoration project total investment is now over $100k USD and we’re far from done, though about half of the major … [Read more…]
The upper shrine of The Pear Orchard Temple is devoted to the Jade Emperor (Yu Hang Ge 玉皇阁) the Taoist deity who oversees the three realms of heaven, earth and hell. Housed in the same building below the Jade Emperor is the Sakyamuni Buddha and two arhats (saints or apostles) at his sides. In this … [Read more…]
The Pear Orchard Temple in Shaxi pays homage to a range of dieties from China’s religious traditions. There is a shrine to the Taoist Jade Emperor, the Buddhist Goddess of Mercy, Guan Yin, the Sakyamuni Buddha in meditation and Cai Shen (财神), the folk god of wealth. These icons are represented in a mix of forms … [Read more…]
After almost a year of construction work, the lower courtyards of the temple have re-opened to local people, who immediately resumed their games of Mahjong. The upper shrine will resume renovations in April, when Mr. Yang returns to work after a bad fall while working on a new house nearby. The work to be done … [Read more…]
In October, we stopped work due to heavy rains, as we still needed to replace the top most roof for the Jade Emperor shrine. In the meantime, we put in the new flooring and pavers in all other buildings and courtyards and replaced all broken window frames. We still have work to do on restoring … [Read more…]