Buddhist Temple

Wow -- I really should not have let time get away before blogging -- I already can't remember what we have been doing all week! I know it included some hair-raising taxi rides, incredible foods, fascinating scenes while walking through the streets of Nanchang and making new friends.

On Monday we visited a gorgeous Buddhist Temple. I forgot to change lenses to get a good shot, but one golden Buddha was as tall as a three story house. We got off the bus and I thought there was this one colorful building and that it would be it. Oh no. It was setup so that there was a nice courtyard, then a temple that would blow your socks off, then another courtyard and then another incredible Buddhist display --on and on. My two favorite things were listening to the monks sing before their meal and then seeing them eat (sounds silly, but it really was a beautiful site). I also thought it was interesting to see how barely inches away from this beautiful area were typical Nanchang apartments rising up with clothes hanging to dry and everything you expect to see. I think I took a number of pictures showing the dichotomy of that.

Gee, what did we then do that afternoon? Maybe that is when we meet our new Baylor friends from Florida. They arrived today from Beijing and got their newest family member on Tuesday. They graduated in '92 and we started in '91. We really enjoyed them and think it is wonderful we ended up in the same city and hotel for a few days. Nothing like a BU reunion on the other side of the world!

Then we went to the restaurant with the cool fish tank -- this is a really upscale restaurant and the meal might have cost closer to $10 each! I learned later that we are even paying for the napkins we use and still, a meal and experience that would easily cost $50 a person is barely a blip on our financial radar here. All that mainly means it is a crime to not get out an enjoy and try as much Chinese food as possible here!

Pics on Flickr!