Poo-Too (Putuo) Island Remembered

Talking of Vanya Oakes yesterday it reminded me that she has a good description of Shanghai’s Putuo Island in her 1943 book White Man’s Folly. If you don’t know Putuo Island here’s a link. When Oakes spent time there, around 1934 or thereabouts, it was somewhat more remote and basic than today’s rather tourist infested isle. It was also known as Poo-Too back then…

‘Poo-Too is at the mouth of the Whangpoo, less than a hundred miles from Shanghai. Of distance there may be some measure in Poo-Too, but of time there is none…On Poo-Too there was neither telephone nor electric light nor automobiles; its only contact with the modern world was a tourist trade in the summer, with little steamers arriving at intervals with week-enders like myself…When I was there, there were some hundred temples, monastries and pagodas, and more than two thousand monks and novices.’

She goes on to give a good description of the island, the temples, lotus ponds, traditional bridges and statues of Kuan Yin. Should you happen to be visiting then you might care to read her entire description (several pages) and compare and contrast with 2016!