Sheshan, Shanghai [Photos]

Hi everyone! Take a look at my photos from Sheshan [佘山, pronounced "shuh-shan" for those of you unfamiliar with Chinese]. It's a big hill in the southwest part of Shanghai [上海 "shang" rhymes with the English word "bong" y'all] with a huge park, Catholic church, and astronomical observatory.

So here we are on the street, looking up at Sheshan. See the church and the observatory?

Here are a few pictures from the park. Nice walking trails and everything.

Here's an old Chinese pagoda.

And the Catholic church at the top is pretty nice.

佘山天主教堂 Sheshan Catholic church

On the path that goes up to the church, you can see the stations of the cross.

And there are a few statues- I guess this one is Mary.

"A church?" you say. "But I thought Christianity was banned in China!" Yeah... yeah don't believe everything American evangelicals tell you.

Next to the church is an astronomy museum and observatory.

上海天文博物馆 Shanghai Astronomy Museum

Sundial

Drawing of a Chinese emperor with a telescope. Text in Chinese, English, and French. The English says, "Emperor Chong-Zhen, from the Ming dynasty, was the first Chinese highest leader to use a telescope."

Photo of the moon, with text in Chinese, English, and French. English says, "Full moon photographed at Sheshan on September 4, 1914."

 Turns out this observatory was founded by Jesuit missionaries from France, who brought a lot of scientific knowledge to China.

Here is a huge telescope and a chair you're not allowed to sit on.

And here's the view from the top:

Shanghai is full of cool stuff! Come and visit! Our subway system is really great too. ^_^