Shanghai Dragon Pillar · The Dragon Vein Beneath the Overpass

When the elevated highway was being built back then, the piling work stalled at this spot; no matter what they did, they couldn’t drive the piles down, and they even broke several drill bits, forcing the project to halt.

Later, a high-ranking monk from the Jade Buddha Temple was invited to inspect the site. He claimed this was the location of Shanghai’s “dragon vein,” where a divine dragon resided underground, and ordinary iron could not break the earth.

The monk performed a ritual to “ask the dragon to move” and designed a pillar adorned with a coiled dragon relief to appease it. Soon after the pillar was erected, the monk passed away; legend has it that he shortened his life by revealing a heavenly secret. Today, this remains the only pillar on the Shanghai elevated highway wrapped in a metal dragon relief.

Feng Shui Lore / Shanghai · China / 1990s