Now China's Sacred Buddhist Mountains Want IPOs

One of China's four sacred Buddhist mountains could be listed on a stock exchange in two years by planning a Facebook-like IPO, according to state-run Xinhua news agency, evidently so ordinary investors might get in on the latest financial bubble: religion.

Mount Putuo, an island 20 miles southeast of Shanghai located in Zhoushan prefecture of Zhejiang province, is considered to be national "pure lands." The region is adoringly known by the Chinese as the "heaven above sea" for its scenic beauty and numerous renowned and revered Buddhist temples. The area attracts five million visitors a year, says Xinhua. Local state affiliated companies, however believe that number could be much higher, and are willing to bet they’re right.

Three regional tourist companies that operate facilities around the mountain have joined forces to form the Mount Putuo Tourism Development Co., which plans to go public by 2014. They aim to raise 7.5 billion yuan, or nearly $1.2 billion. "We think the tourism industry of Mount Putuo needs better marketing, and going public can help to boost its publicity," Mao Jiantao, the company's general manager, told Xinhua.

Mao promises Buddhist temples technically won't be included in the listing, which really means the religious associations may receive little if any of the proceeds. Zhang Shaolei, who is part of a committee overlooking the development company, affiliated to the local Zhoushan government, insists that local authorities not only support the project, but are one of the primary cheerleaders.

The announcement has stoked a growing debate in China over whether religious destinations should be leveraged by big business? (Corollary question: should real estate be taken away from helpless citizens in order to make way for giant condos? Many governments in China say yes.) The reaction, understandably, is overwhelmingly negative. "Without its religion reputation, how can Mountain Putuo attract visitors at all?" said Master Xinwu, director of the recruitment office of a Buddhism college in Hangzhou, on his verified Weibo account. "I cannot imagine paying tribute [to a listed company]," he said.

Liu Wei, an official with the State Administration for Religious Affairs offered similar sentiments. On the administration's website, he commented that "temples are non-profit organizations," adding that a "developing a market economy should have its boundaries and not go below the social bottom line." Wei said his agency would object to companies trying to exploit religious resources.

In China, the blurring of religion and commerce has been happening for years. In 1997, the Emei Shan Tourism Co, which manages tramways and ticketing at another Buddhist mountain and UNESCO World Heritage Site, Mount Emei, successfully listed its stock on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange. Even the world famous Shaolin Temple in Henan Province has been taken with the capitalist bug. Iconic for its Kung Fu monks, who perform around the world and dream of Hollywood, the temple is managed by Shi Yongxin, who is known in the Chinese media as "the CEO monk". He has licensed the Shaolin name to films, reality TV shows and video games, and okay’d an online store that sells Shaolin kung fu manuals for 9,999 yuan ($1,600). Shi’s plan to launch an IPO in 2009 crashed against a wave of public outrage. That year, he was ridiculed by hackers who used the temple’s website to post a fake apology letter from the abbot that listed his alleged misdeeds, and left a message behind: "Shaolin evildoer Shi Yongxin, go to hell".

Nevertheless, the IPO fervor is spreading: two other sacred Buddhist mountains are looking to join the bandwagon. Officials at Mount Wutai in Shanxi province aim to be listed by the end of the year. The fourth, Mount Jiuhua, in Anhui province, has already made two failed efforts, in 2004 and 2009, but it looks like the third time might be the charm. Its latest application is now under consideration by the China Securities Regulatory Commission.

This isn't just a Buddhist problem, some say. "China's Buddhist mountains have been involved in this commercialization wave one by one, but we can expect to see the Taoism mountains get dragged into this wave soon," Yan Can, vice chairman of the Buddhism Association of Henan Province in North China, said on Weibo. "It will be a moral tragedy for everyone."

“Looking at the rest of the world, no venues for religious activities have ever been packaged for listing before,” Wei said at a press conference last month. He has a point. In Jerusalem’s Old City, for instance, even after the Israelis took over after the Six-Day War in 1967, Prime Minister Levi Eshkol assured the region at the time that "no harm whatsoever shall come to the places sacred to all religions," ceding administration of Temple Mount to the Islamic Waqf, who have overseen the religious site since 1187. The later passing of the Preservation of the Holy Places Law ensured protection and freedom of access for such sites, and a provision against commerce.

There is one unique case study where religion and business have unequivocally intersected, in this case with wreaking havoc on the country’s financial state. In Greece, monks of the mysterious Vatopaidi monastery, who, through shady property deals with the government and questionable accounting, had a disproportionate hand in the Greek economic collapse. "The Greek newspapers, they call us a corporation," Father Arsenios, widely considered the "CFO" of the monastery, told Michael Lewis back in 2010. "What company has lasted for 1,000 years?"

Knock on some very old wood.

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