Chen Family Temple and Shamian Island

This morning we started out by meeting our guide at 9:00 for some sightseeing. We went to the Chen Family Temple. We were here five years ago with Hope. Our biggest memory from being here was Auntie Tu thinking she was so funny by making us all try the smelliest fruit EVER...Durian. Oh my gosh it is so awful. Anyway, the sights were just as breathtaking the second time around. Our guide said the Chen family is the largest surname in Guangdong province. At the end of the Qing Dynasty the Chen family built this structure as a place for the family to study and worship. It was very interesting.




The brochure says these buildings are some of the "best-preserved and most gorgeously decorated traditional buildings in Guangdong Province."








These two guards on the doors are very significant. One must be red and one black. And, when the doors are closed, they're eyes meet on a single spot therefore sealing the doors. If they are switched and their eyes end up facing away from each other, evil spirits and bad fortune can sneak into the building.








This is a section of the wood paneled gate at the entrance. All of the carvings were different and unique. This one shows the banana tree. The leaves are apparently very significant because they are large and symbolize longevity/long life.




This display was in one of the side buildings and shows the process of carving the jade family ball. We have one of these from Hope's adoption trip. They are carved ornately from a single sphere of jade, and each layer on the inside represents a generation of your family.




Hope's name on a piece of rice and put in a necklace charm. Cool Keepsake! Her Chinese name is on the other side.








Daddy with both the kids and all the stuff...such a good daddy and husband! We fought the battle with Luke and the stroller today. It was so worth it. He is a chunk to carry, even with the hip carrier we brought. We may be on a mission to find a stroller tomorrow for the trip home. You can see here his big sister wanted a turn, too. :)




Done for the morning. It was so HUMID today!




Hot and sweaty and chillin' in the a/c on the way back to the hotel.




We got back to the hotel and had some noodles and peanut butter sandwiches in the room for lunch. Again, we shopped at the market and planned for some meals in the room to try to conserve some resources. Eating out every meal for three weeks is a little much for our budget. We'd made afternoon plans to take a taxi to Shamian Island for the afternoon/evening to meet up with our friends we met in Jiangsu who are staying at the Victory Hotel there. It was so fun to be back on he island. It brought back so many memories of our first trip. It is so different to be there now. The atmosphere is remarkably different. We remember waking outside and having almost every family we met look just like ours. This time, the only other adoptive families we saw were in the hotel lobby when we met our friends. At any rate, we were able to walk around, admire the scenery, visit some shops, and eat at Lucy's. The latter of these things we really the goal for our island visit anyway. Yum!
Hope wanted to pose with almost every statue we saw. :)



























Grandma and Grandpa, You might want to print this one. :)




End of a long day.




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