The Dragon Pillar of the Yan'an Elevated Road

Shanghai · China · Urban site

The motorway pillar at Shanghai's heart is said to pierce a dragon vein — and the monk who appeased it died soon after.

When Shanghai's great elevated interchange was built in the 1990s, legend holds that the central support pillar refused to sink into the ground no matter what the engineers tried. Only after a senior monk from the Jade Buddha Temple performed a ceremony did the pile slide home — he is said to have explained that it pierced the city's dragon vein. The monk died not long afterwards, which the legend reads as the price of revealing a secret of heaven. Today it is the only pillar in the entire system clad in dragon reliefs, officially for aesthetic reasons, though few in Shanghai are convinced.

FAQ

Wo befindet sich The Dragon Pillar of the Yan'an Elevated Road?

The Dragon Pillar of the Yan'an Elevated Road liegt in Shanghai, China.