The Dragon Pillar of Shanghai

 Shanghai Day 1
 
    Shanghai is a breathtaking city. If you look closely, you can see its origins as a small fishing village. Now it is arguably the most international city on the planet. Everyone wants to do business in Shanghai, and it shows. There are buildings representing architecture from several powers around the globe. As interesting as that all is, I came here to look at a pillar. It’s one single pillar of thousands holding up elevated roads throughout the city. The specific pillar I’m looking for is on the elevated expressway that connects the Bund near the sea port to the Hongqiao International Airport. 
 
    There is a legend behind this pillar. The legend goes that when they were drilling into the ground to set supports for the pillar, the construction crew couldn’t dig as deep as they wanted. It made no sense to the surveyors, so they called in spiritual masters and monks. After assessing the area, all of the masters refused to discuss the matter. No one wanted to talk about it, except for one Buddhist monk who prayed at the site. After a day of prayer, he told the officials that this spot under the ground was the resting place of the guardian of the city, a great and powerful dragon. 
The officials did not want to change their plans. Instead, they dedicated the pillar to the dragon as a sign of respect. The monk told them to put nine dragons on the pillar. They did as the monk instructed and construction on the pillar went very well afterwards. The monk left and the now the dragon pillar remains. There are rumors that the monk didn’t leave, but died suddenly because he wasn’t supposed to give away the dragon’s secret. There are also rumors that the dragon who protects the city still nests under the expressway, but no one really knows. 
 
    That is the legend. Tomorrow I will go and see for myself. 
 
Shanghai Day 2
 
            I went early in the morning to the place where the pillar is. It was impossible to get close to it on the ground level. The pillar was right in the middle of a very busy road. I could see more levels of roads higher up and a foot bridge. I went up the bridge and although I could not get close enough to touch the pillar, I could see it quite clearly. It is an amazing structure and different from the other pillars holding the roads up. It looks like it’s made of silver with nine stylized golden Chinese dragons circling around the outside from the bottom to the top. While it was beautiful, it looked very much like a piece of art in a city that was itself a piece of art. There seemed to be nothing mystical about it. 
 
            I left to explore other parts of the city. It would seem that the legend was just that. I could not see how a dragon could be living anywhere near this pillar at all. I stewed over the story all day. I even visited a few bookstores to see if I could find any more information about the legend. There seemed to be nothing. 
 
Shanghai Day 3

            I have found that if I had a year, I might not be able to explore all of Shanghai. It is a rich and deeply historied city. That being said, I must leave tomorrow. So, I will visit the pillar one more time this evening to say goodbye. It is the reason I came here in the first place.
 
Shanghai Day 4

            I am at the Pudong International Airport and have another hour until my flight boards. That being the case, I must write about the thing that took place last night. I returned to the nine-dragon pillar. If it was beautiful during the day, it is magnificent at night. The blue neon lighting of the leveled roadway creates an other-worldly feeling. I was thoroughly enjoying the atmosphere when I saw a child looking for her mother. She was crying and peering over the railing, trying to get a view of the section of the bridge across the way. She suddenly called out for her mother as if she saw her farther on. As she did so, her weight tipped her and she went over the rail, falling to the rushing cars below. It happened so fast that I couldn’t even react. That’s when I saw one of the dragons on the pillar glow faintly. As I came closer, I could see the girl floating back up and over the rail on a golden light. It was bright to me but faded quickly in the surrounding neon of the nighttime city. The little girl dropped to the walkway at my feet and the glittering dragon on the pillar faded back to polished gold. 
            I asked the girl if she was okay. She didn’t seem to know what just happened. I helped her up and seconds later her mother rushed over. The little girl embraced her mother. I don’t know if the mother saw what happened or if she was just overjoyed to find her daughter, but I know I’ll never forget what I witnessed. 
            All-in-all, it was a very good trip to Shanghai.