In ancient times, every Chinese city had a ''Temple of the Town God'', the central shrine for Taoist worship. Shanghai's version dates to 1403, though the name itself dates back only to 1929. During the Cultural Revolution, the temple was destroyed. In the early 1990s, the temple and surrounding bazaar area, which encircled part of Yu Yuan, were extensively restored. The temple's main courtyard is usually jammed with worshippers praying before the statues of Huo Guang, a local military hero, in the front hall, and the town god in the back. The smell of incense is overpowered only by the smell of money wafting from worshipers of the ''god of commerce'' at the nearby shops.
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