City temple serves up free 'longevity noodles'

Credit: Ti Gong

Caption: Foreign tourists buy souvenirs at the charity stalls in the Jade Buddha Temple on Friday.

Shanghai's Jade Buddha Temple offered 30,000 servings of "longevity noodles" to seniors for the Double Ninth Festival on Friday, a day dedicated to the elderly.

The luohan noodles, customized by the temple dating back to the late Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), are served free to senior citizens at the temple through Sunday.

Prayers and Buddhist musical performances will be held during the event. Volunteers also set up charity sales booths at the temple, raising funds for elderly care initiatives.

Credit: Ti Gong

Caption: Visitors line up to taste the vegetarian noodles at the temple.

Some 9,000 servings of the noodles are being delivered to elderly people unable to leave their homes due to illness or disability.

The temple's Juequn Cultural & Educational Foundation initiated the campaign to present noodles to the elderly during difficult conditions in December 2020. The noodles are also sent to local communities, subdistricts, rescue stations and seniors' homes.

Eating longevity noodles on one's birthday or the Double Ninth Festival is a tradition of the Han majority dating back to the Han Dynasty. The noodles are long and continuous to represent longevity.