Scrolls, Scrolls, and more Scrolls!!!

As you can see from the title of this post, I am having a little too much fun shopping here in China!!!

We had a really good rest last night (I am feeling better thank God!). Ben woke up early because the baby bed that they have in our room is too small for him and he can't turn around. He is a wild, thrashing around kind of sleeper and it was not cutting it. We brought him into our king bed and he fell back asleep. When we finally all woke up Jay and I were hanging on to the edge of the bed and Ben was laying horizontally between us. Sounds alot like his older brother...

We had another nice and relaxing breakfast (although Ben will STILL not drink the milk at this hotel- wonder how it is different from Taiyuan) and our guide Kelly picked us up with a van and driver. Since we were a family touring on our own, we pretty much had free reign over where to go. The first place we went was Yuntai Garden. This was a beautiful flower garden built into the base of a mountain that has lots of fountains and windmills (Ben liked looking at both). They had a huge greenhouse with beautiful orchids. It was a really nice and relaxing place to visit. We sat down, had a picnic, and just enjoyed the scenery.

The next place we went to visit was the Chen Family Temple. On the way there, we entered another part of town and we had to pass the Guangzhou main train station. Kelly told us that it was a really dangerous place (lots of robberies and muggings) and that local people avoid it unless they really have to go there. It is almost right across the street from the large center where the Canton International Trade Fair is taking place right now. There are thousands of people here from all over the world looking to order Chinese made goods for their stores. Kelly told us that the local police were worried about terrorist bombings because it was such a large grouping of foreigners. She said that the locals have been joking that there was a terrorist on his way to the Trade Fair but when he walked past the train station somebody stole his bomb!!!!!

Anyway, the Chen Family Temple is a building that is a little over 100 years old that was built by the Chen family to honor their ancestors. Actually, it was a way for the Chen family to show off how incredibly wealthy they were! There were all different kinds of carvings there and it really was quite beautiful. Ben did not seem to care since he fell right asleep in the backpack carrier and he missed the whole thing! They were selling lots of artistic things there and I bought 2 painted scrolls. They were pricey but they were entirely silk (not part paper like others you buy in most places). They are very colorful paintings of an emperor and empress. We were trying to negotiate a price but they would not come down as far as we wanted. So, we just left. About a half hour later as we were still walking around the temple the owner tracked us (okay, hunted us!) down and sold them to us at our price. Good bargaining huh??? That makes the number of scrolls I have bought 5. Jay is getting worried that we will have absolutely no wall space left in our house!

This afternoon Ben was still tired and I was feeling quite tired so I sent Jay out to take our laundry to the cleaners so Ben and I could nap. I thought I would give a "cuddle nap" a try but that Ben would not like that because he is not used to cuddling to sleep. I laid him down in our bed and I laid next to him. He wiggled over to me, repositioned my arms, cuddled right up next to me, and fell asleep almost instantly. He knew EXACTLY what to do! We can only figure that during the few months that he spent in foster care this summer that he must have slept with his foster mother. He was just too good at it! I was SO happy!

Tonight we met my Dillon friend Debbie for dinner. We ate at an outside barbecue kind of place right next to the river. You really cannot beat it in terms of views. They had the most delicious grilled meats and roasted eggplant covered in garlic. Much to our surprise, Ben CHOWED. Man oh man is he going to absolutely reek of garlic when he gets all sweaty tomorrow!!!!!

Tomorrow we will have our consulate appointment (we don't go- our guide takes all the paperwork to the consulate for us) and then we are off to a temple to get Ben a traditional Buddhist blessing. It should be really neat! I figure the more people we have praying for the little guy the better :)

Before I go, I wanted to comment on Guangzhou... I have to start by saying I LOVED Taiyuan and Shanxi Province. It was just oozing with history and tradition and I was just soaking it up. I was just absolutely heartbroken to leave. It was a magical time that we spent there and it will be something that I will never forget. It is where my son is from so it belongs to him. And, because he belongs to us, so does Shanxi. Guangzhou, on the other hand, is all new and not very Chinese (I think). I can see why many Americans are dying to get here. There are other Americans, most people speak English, you can eat western food, and you can shop for all the kinds of cheap trinkets that tourists like. Americans like it because it is more like America to them. To me, that is so not the point. Our children are Chinese. Their ancestors were Chinese. This is something to be celebrated, not hidden. This is as much a part of them as their little fingers or toes. So, immerse yourself in their culture, don't run away from it the moment you see a chicken nugget on the buffet. Learn and experience it. Do it for your children. Someday Ben is going to ask us what it was like when we came to China. Instead of telling him how awful the pollution, food, and traffic was in his province, I will gladly tell him about the 5000 years of rich history that he was a product of. I don't want to show him the squeaky shoes and knock off purse that I bought in Guangzhou. I want to show him the paintings I bought that showcase the culture of his birth country. I don't want to tell him that I rushed to Guangzhou because it felt more like a vacation to me. I want to tell him that I LIVED IT, I experienced China with all my senses. This is my job- I am his mother and I will do whatever it takes to make him feel proud of his heritage. It is part of him and China is now part of me.

That doesn't mean that I knock off purse isn't a guide buy though...