Temple of Heaven was the Chinese version of Central Park, with a large, circular temple in the middle of it. In the surrounding park, elders practiced tai chi, teenagers played table-less ping pong, and anyone between the ages of 0-99 with use of their legs kicked this small sack thing with a stem and feathers on it. Groups gathered to sing songs and others joined in line dancing. I totally envisioned any of these groups flash mobbing their skills on American soil!
We walked to a nearby pearl market to take a peek and found a Dairy Queen. Without even searching, my spirit is drawn to them. The soft serve flavor was rum raisin, so I didn't partake in my usual blizzard.
Jumped back on the subway and headed to the Lama Temple. It was a complex of ornate Buddhist buildings. Vendors lined the entrance selling incense and the soothing smell of its smoke permeated the temple grounds. It was calming to the senses and incredibly moving to watch the faithful pray. I appreciate the preservation of culture, though just outside the ancient walls, you spot modern high rises creeping in.
Drenched in sweat, we headed back to the Double Happiness for some down time. I hate heat and its been in the mid 90s each day.
Only an hour later, we were back on a slightly less crowded subway headed to an acrobatics show. We forgot our paper from the tour guide saying which stop to get off at and undershot it. When we surfaced in the city, we had a fifteen minute walk to an unnamed theater and barely made it in time… Panic mode. To top of that lovely hour, when I quickly ran to the bathroom at the theater, I forgot to take tissues. There is no toilet paper provided. Yum. Thank goodness that bathroom was the first to have soap.
On a positive note, our adopting friends from our first flight were there. So was one other family from our travel group. We headed to dinner after the show, which proved difficult and interesting. The menu had no pictures and was written in Chinese. Everyone handled it well, but you could feel the tension rise as friends, acquaintances still, guessed completely on the order. I felt responsible as I was the one who suggested the restaurant. Thankfully, it all worked out, and we ate fondue style noodles, pork, mushrooms and cabbage in an amazing broth. A higher purpose was served, as we all got to meet and wish each other good luck as we parted ways. (Our daughters are in different provinces. Everlee is in Chongqing. We travel to unite with her and stay in her province for one week to clear paperwork. Then we make an in-country flight to Guangzhou, where we also stay one week to meet with the consulate.) Next time we see them (in Guangzhou) each family will have grown!
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