Sunday,
September 7, 2008
GOODBYE HANGZHOU , VISIT TO
THE TEMPLE OF THE SIX BANYAN TREES, OLD CHEN HOUSE AND
PROVINCIAL ART SHOPPING CENTER
“Though you say
goodbye to yesterday…may you hold it in your heart forever.”
~author unknown
Friday evening, our last night in Hangzhou , our guide arranged
for us to attend the local theatre. It was a wonderful
production which included music played on traditional Chinese
instruments, opera, dancing, martial arts and acrobatics. The
production told about the history of Hangzhou , the legend of
West Lake and the story of the butterfly lovers (which Rebecca
compared to Romeo and Juliet). As we entered the lobby of the
theatre, we were immediately greeted by about six crew members
who picked up our stroller with Sophie still in it and quickly
escorted us to the front row…right in the center! All eyes were
definitely on us : ) We weren’t expecting to be the VIP’s of the
evening : ) Our table even had a sign on it that said VIP’s. We
(meaning only us) were served all sorts of refreshments which
Sophie entirely enjoyed through the entire show. We kept
laughing because instead of applauding by clapping our hands,
there were these plastic hand clappers that we were to shake
when we liked a particular part of the performance. It really
was very funny! I’ve never seen anything like it… Sophie thought
the entire night was great until she had to leave her plastic
clapper behind. It really was a perfect way to end our time in
Hangzhou!
Saturday morning we woke to rain, and it continued until our
flight left for Guangzhou that afternoon. When Rebecca picked us
up at the hotel in the morning, she said, “Today we say goodbye.
Maybe it rains because God is little bit sad that we say
goodbye”. It really was quite emotional for us to say goodbye to
Hangzhou and the birthplace of our daughter. My emotions caught
me off guard in the few hours prior to leaving. I felt sadness
for Sophie and the difficult beginning she has had. I felt
sadness for her birth family who most likely, in an attempt to
give her the medical attention she so desperately needed, placed
her at the gate of the Yiwu Social Welfare Institute. A place
where she would most definitely be found safely and quickly. We
have taken hundreds of pictures and have some wonderful memories
to share with her of our first few days together. Goodbye
Hangzhou . We will always remember the gift that we’ve been
given.
Today is our first full day in Guangzhou . It is home to 13
million people and is the third largest city in China . We have
now joined a small group of three other families who have
adopted through the waiting child program as well. Sophie is the
oldest in the group as the other three children are each about a
year old. Jocelyn is our new guide and seems to be a lot of fun.
She arranged a group tour and shopping for us today. We first
visited the Temple of the Six Banyan Trees. It is famous here in
Guangzhou . There is a huge pagoda that is seventeen stories
high! If you look closely, you will notice that it leans
slightly to the west. Many of the local people were there
worshipping, praying and burning incense. We were able to
observe some of the monks performing ceremonies to bless babies.
There were beautiful trees on the grounds surrounding the
temple, and I particularly loved the Chinese lanterns that hung
between the trees.
Next, we visited the Chen Clan Academy which is sometimes called
the Chen Ancestral Hall. It was built in the late 1800’s and it
was built as a gathering place for the Chen family. It was also
used as a place to educate their children. Apparently, it is one
of the best-preserved decorated, traditional buildings in this
area. The architecture was very ornate with wood, brick and
stone carvings, ceramic and lime sculptures and iron castings.
We also saw some amazing embroidery. We were told that each
piece took literally years and years to finish. If one mistake
was made, it was completely unstitched and begun again. Wow!
They were so detailed that they actually looked like paintings.
It was a welcomed relief to visit the air conditioned Provincial
Art Center next. Guangzhou Province is known for its embroidery,
ivory/jade carvings and porcelain. It was fun to look around and
make a few small purchases. The jade jewelry is beautiful!
Tonight, we will meet our guide for a group dinner at the Cow &
Bridge Restaurant. It’s been a lot of fun to see and visit the
places I have read about for so long! I loved seeing all the new
families at the breakfast buffet this morning! And Sophie even
received her Going Home Barbie doll from the White Swan Hotel
today! Absolutely loving Sophie’s giggles today…they are
contagious!
When the first
baby laughed for the first time, the laugh broke into thousands
of pieces and they all went skipping about, and that was the
beginning of fairies. ~Peter Pan |
Sophie holding her Chinese passport!
Goodbye Hangzhou...
Pagoda at the Temple of the Six Banyan Trees
Statue of Buddha
at the Temple of the Six Banyan Trees
Ivory Sculpture
Sophie with Going Home Barbie |
