Tuesday, Dec. 19.
Today the group took off on a half-day city tour. Three stops: The Six Banyan (Buddhist) Temple, The Chan Clan Academy, and a province-owned arts and crafts shop.
Here’s the 190-ft. tall Flowery Pagoda at the temple site. From the outside it looks to be nine stories tall, but in reality there are 17 stories – as Jeff and I can attest because we climbed it. The doorways keep getting lower and lower as you climb.
There are several other buildings at the temple, including this one with three Buddha statues inside. You can see two of them here and at the lower right is a monk performing a blessing ceremony for the little girls. We figured this wouldn’t turn them into Buddhists and couldn’t hurt.
The Chen Clan Academy was formerly a residence for members of the Chen family who came to Guangzhou on business, built around 1890. It’s quite large, like you see in movies such as The Last Emperor, if I recall correctly, with many rooms (actually, 19, the brochure says) grouped around many courtyards. Since 1959 it’s been a folk art museum. Outside, the roofs are lined with figures and other carvings, as in this picture.
We spent quite a bit of our allotted time in the gift shop, so didn’t see all the craft exhibits, but here’s a hard-working fellow who caught my eye. A stone carving, I believe, displayed on a piece of wood.
Next, at the shopping stop, I didn’t take any pictures, but back on Shamian Island, near the hotel, I got a picture of Susie and her favorite salesperson, Sukie.
Also, time for a Malia picture. Bet you can see that she’s changed over the 10 days since she arrived. She's chattering and smiling a lot more as she's gotten used to us. Does a pretty darn good job of waving hello or bye-bye, too.
Wednesday, Dec. 20, was a pretty quiet day. Shamian Island developed as a headquarters for various European nations -- consulates and other government and business interests, so you can see the European influence in the architecture. Here’s one of many examples.
The US Consulate used to be here on the island (I think it’s now the Polish Consulate, well-guarded, though), which is a big reason the White Swan Hotel became adoption central, but US offices have moved elsewhere. The kids are there right now (Th. Pm) getting Malia’s visa and taking an oath – of responsibility, I guess. Security is tight, so they were not allowed to take cameras or grandparents.
The only outing on Wednesday was a cab ride – pretty adventuresome – to a shopping mall specializing in pearls, jade, and other jewelry. We continued our international food journey by eating at a Japanese restaurant in the hotel.
Incidentally, you have to be careful of the fashion police when you’re out and about. Several times, in both cities, women – sales clerks, passersby on the street, people in the elevator … have admonished Valerie to keep Malia well covered – no bare leg showing between sock tops and pant leg bottoms, for example. Make sure that blanket stays securely around her. Etc. Just before we left for pearl market we met a guy (American) in the elevator who said he’d been chastised in the market for wearing shorts and a t-shirt – ugly American! So, Jeff and I wore long pants.
Cheers,
Rob and Susie
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