Temple, Shopping and Pizza Hut...

We got up on Monday morning a little later than usual. I guess we will start adjusting to the time now that it is nearly time to leave. We had to leave the hotel lobby at 9:00, so we rushed to get ready and try to make it in time to eat breakfast.

Honestly, I don't know how much more of the breakfast I can take. I thought of it nearly makes me nauseous and food just doesn't sound good anymore. I guess that could be a good thing for my weight loss plan...but I am starving here!

We had the usual and I got one of those little roll danish things, except I got the square one instead of the round one. I tore it in half and started to stick it in my mouth when I seen this black thing...I let out a yell...it scared me. I don't know what it was. It was some kind of filling, but initially, I didn't know and the thought of it almost going into my mouth totally weirded me out! I was done.

Our guide arrived and we headed for the Six Banyan Temple. As we arrived at the Temple gate, we were shown where the large Buddha and Generals statues would be at the entrance, but it was the time of year that the gold is "redone" and so they were not there. She told us that Buddha in Chinese culture has a large belly that symbolizes that he can take on all your worries and cares...she said like James. Okay, I was cracking up...she compared Rodney to Buddha!!! We all started laughing and I told her about the boys calling the Buddha at Beijing Restaurant, "Daddy". She laughed and said, "yes, with no hair". But WE ALL KNOW, she was also implying the belly!!!!

The Temple was originally built 1500 years ago. But, there was a fire that did damage to the original temple about 600 years ago and they rebuilt the temple. It was built exactly the same as the original. There appears to be 9 levels from the outside, but there are about 15 levels inside. Nine is significant in ancient Chinese history. Nine was the highest number and therefore, the 9th floor was the highest attainable level in building and in life. It was really a cool structure. The ornate trim and the shape of the roofings on the Pagoda were amazing.

We then were shown what looked like a big decorative "pot belly stove". I know, using Kentucky terminology to describe ancient Chinese artifacts...but when I saw it that is what I thought. The hole up at the top was used for people who were praying for financial blessings. They would stand and toss coins up at the hole. If it went in, then they would become rich. Our guide said that during the Festival of Buddha, people line up all the way past the gates trying to throw in coins.

When the temple was damaged, the Cantonese people donated money to have the temple rebuilt. This is a listing of the damage that was done, the rebuilding process and the names of people and the amount of the money that they donated.

The Six Banyan Temple was named by this man. He was a great teacher and calligrapher in China. He wrote these characters when he came to this spot and it was named the Six Banyan Temple because of him.

People come to them temple to pray to Buddha and they bring offerings and incense. They believe that they need the incense because Buddha is in the heavens and therefore cannot hear the prayers of people on earth. So they make their prayers and then send up the incense to the heavens so he can hear them. As well, they bring offerings usually of flowers, apples, oranges and/or peanuts. Flowers symbolizes purity, apples I think symbolizes knowledge (okay, how bad is that, I think is symbolizes knowledge, the only one I can't remember for sure...I need a few apples), oranges for wealth and the peanuts are for fertility. Connie said that because the peanuts have 2 nuts inside, it symbolizes 1 boy, 1 girl. She said that even though China now has the 1 child policy, it is still a good prayer.

We were then taken to the Heavenly Room. It is called this because they believe that this room belongs in the heavens. It was a room with 3 huge Buddhas, offering tables and a place for monk prayers.

The first on the left symbolizes the past, center is present and right is future. You can tell by the hand positions. The statues are huge and made from bronze and then overlayed in gold. Each statue had an offering table in front of them. You can't see in the pictures very well, but the center Buddha has 7 smaller Buddhas above his head. This symbolizes that he can take the form of many things and has many powers. The past and future Buddha has 1 above their heads...again we see 9.

The small cushion seats were for the monks that will come each morning at 5:45 am, ring a bell and then pray. They come again at 4:45 pm and beat a drum and pray again.

This was the room where the monks would read from the Buddhist bible and bless the children. We opted out of that and left the room.

We then went to the place where the only female Buddha is represented. She is believed to be very compassionate and powerful. She is the one that women come to to pray for children. After the child is born, then it is traditional to bring the baby back to visit her and thank her for her blessing.

We then walked to the "back yard" of the temple. There was a building there where people would come for a lesson. Connie stated that ordinary people cannot understand the Buddhist bible and so they come here and a Master Buddhist Monk would hold lessons and explain the bible.

It was time to leave the Temple and head to the porcelain house. Connie was taking us here because I had requested to purchase something for Anna from Foshan. She said that Foshan is very famous for their porcelain artistry. We arrived at the shop and there were beautiful pieces. Figures, dishes, tea sets...they were all lovely. We watched a woman, from Foshan, painting pieces there in the shop.

I found a very nice piece of a young woman playing an instrument. Anna seems to love music, so it was an obvious choice. The fingers and flowers are soooo delicate and tiny. I pray it makes it home! Next, I got a tea set. It is very very thin and almost transparent. Honestly, I think it is just beautiful. Rodney was very good and didn't fuss at all. He said it was a once in a lifetime...so I had to move, quick!

We then went over to the jade counter and Connie helped us pick out a nice jade pendant for Anna. We opted for a circle, which symbolizes a family and will be something that she can keep forever. Obviously I know nothing about jade, but thankfully Connie does. There are apparently different grades or classes of jade - A, B, C, and D. The darker the green the cheaper the jade. She said that the dark green is usually dyed or colored...the best jade has little green and appears very transparent...totally opposite of what I would think. I think jade and I think green...but not so. So we got her a nice - little - class A jade pendant...much more expensive than what we had seen in the shops on the island, but they were dark green and apparently class C and D. Rodney is now getting worried.

Next is the pearl market. There were pearls everywhere. Literally. Bags, bags and bags of pearl strands everywhere. They weren't guarded or watched very closely. We walked into the back room of Mao Sheng Jewelry and just started going through stuff. We bought some pearls for Anna and myself. When we were talking to the sales clerk, we had been told that we could bargain, so Rodney started. She said that they were wholesale, so she couldn't, but she would give us a bracelet for Anna. Our guide came over when we were getting ready to pay and asked what discount she gave. When we told her none, she started saying stuff to the sales clerk and was saying no, no. Connie then told me to go pick out another bracelet for me. The girl was saying she couldn't because she wouldn't make money. Connie told her yes, because she didn't give us a discount, we were taking 2. I was laughing. Connie is a trip.

Honestly, we haven't spent much money at all. So, don't think we are blowing money over here. But I did want to get her a few nice things from China, since we may never be back here again and we can't afford the same things in the U.S.

Next, was Rodney's most anticipated stop of the day - Pizza Hut. We had a Works Edge Pizza. It was like a thin and crispy crust with spicy chicken, pepperoni, sausage, peppers, onions, and tomatoes....Yummmmmmm! It was soooo good.

We headed back to the room and Anna played for a long time. She is doing so so good. She didn't cry at all the entire time we were out. She whined only a little at the temple and at the pearl market when she got hot...but a little bouncing and she was good. She was in the carrier the whole time, so that was huge!

We think that Anna is putting on some weight too. She eats like a little pig now. She will eat an entire bottle - 8 oz and sometimes will eat another 4, 5 oz on top of that. She was not eating well at the orphanage, I know.

She is still showing more affection towards us and is making more and more eye contact everyday. She is playing much more with toys and is allowing us to sit her down more. She sat in a chair for a couple minutes in Lucy's before she started crying. We know that she is just a tad spoiled already. Obviously, we are still giving in to her every whim, but she knows what she is doing. She can whine or yell out and she knows that she is going to get her way....not one tear sometimes. It will take us a while to undo the damage that we have done over the last week :-)

Boys,

Anna is doing much better than before. She loves playing "rough". Daddy will roll her around and she loves it. I told Daddy that I know Carter and Jacob will want to pack her around all the time. She is a little monkey and you all are just going to eat her up. She is starting to throw things off the bed and then whines for us to pick them up. She is a little nut! Cannot wait to see you all again. I think of you all the time. We only have 3 days left and we are counting them down! We dread the flight and hope that Anna does well. She likes to be held, so hopefully she will do good and sleep!!! Talk to you soon. Love to my 3 boys!

Happy that we only have 3 days left until home and sending love to my Parker, Jacob and Carter