Jade Emperor Pagoda

Jade Emperor Pagoda

Choked with the smoke from hundreds of joss sticks and shafts of light piercing through the gloom makes for a very atmospheric pagoda. This Chinese Pagoda was built in 1909 and is chock full of fascinating nooks and crannies studded with statues of divinities and bizarre heroes.

The Jade emperor Pagoda known as Quang Dong to the Cantonese of Saigon is a mix of Buddhist and Taoist and is dedicated to the Emperor of Jade the top God in the world of Taoism. The pagoda was busy throughout the morning with women coming to pray and a smattering of men passing through. Though incredibly dark inside it was fantastic finding a place to sit and watch people go out about their routines. No one paid any heed to me taking pictures. most ignored me completely and others passed by saying hello, smiling or stopping to peer at the LCD screen to have a look at the way I was perceiving their world.

One room contains small statues of 12 woman with children clambering over them. The women depict humanities good and bad characteristics and each statue represents one year of the 12 in Chinese calendar. The room is presided over by the statue of Kim Hoa Thanh Mao the Chief of Women. As I arrived to the grotto the caretaker of the room beckoned me in and then proceeded to tell me all about the statues and the history, however it was all in Chinese so I missed a bit.

If you are looking for this pagoda it's in a part of the city known as Da Kao off Dien Bien Phu St, Saigon.