I’ve got a week off for Chinese new year so it seemed like a good opportunity to go out for a walk. I planned to explore westwards along the Dianpu river which I’d walked before, but I didn’t get very far as the path along the river is intermittent at best and the big roads aren’t pleasant to walk along. So I took a detour to Sijing old town, which I found by chance while looking at the map.

The main attraction is probably Futian temple, a medium-sized Buddhist temple dating from the 18th century. There weren’t many visitors so it was very peaceful, much more so than other temples I’ve visited in China.

Outside the temple

The old town itself has seen better days. I’m not sure if it’s in the process of being demolished or renovated. Anyway most of the buildings are boarded up although there’s a free architecture exhibition that’s worth a look. I actually preferred wandering around here compared to some of the more over-comercialised old towns I’ve been too.

The waterfront view is more attractive

The pagoda was closed too although it seemed operational so that might just be because it’s the new year holiday.

Hipster cafe and bookshop