Chen Family Temple and Packing Up!!

Today is Friday, FEB 12!!!!! That means tomorrow we start our journey HOME!!!! As much as we have enjoyed this trip we are ready to be home and see if we can get ourselves on some type of schedule. The weather today is drastically different than yesterday. Today is kind of overcast, but the temp is maybe 50-55 and the wind is blowing. This morning we had to be in the lobby at 10:00 to go to the chen family temple/school. So we had an extra 30 minutes this morning and we used it getting things ready to come home. EG was up at 4:30 this morning and she was awake for the day!!! Except for the power nap she took at the time we were going to leave for breakfast.lol So I stayed in the room with her and Chris went to eat. The temple was very interesting and large. Rebecca said that when you get a dinner table full of people to eat at least one of those people will have some sort of tie to the chen family name. The temple was built from 1890-1894 and due to financial reasons they had to sell the temple to the government in 1957. There were 72 families that were involved in the temple clan. It was really pretty and lots of color even on the outside. The area on the outside looked like small dragons on the corners of the temple on the outside, but Rebecca said it was the dragons son. Because the dragon holds a lot of power and the chen family held a lot of power, but they were not the ruling power in China. So they put the dragon's son to represent them not the dragon, which is the top of power. The front door and the large step over at the front of the temple was to ward off the evil spirits. They had several areas in the temple. There was an area showing how to make bamboo style type hand fans, an area for the heritage of the family, area for ivory carvings, area for other styles of carvings like jade or wood, embroidery(sp?) area and of course a small gift shop.

One of the things we saw in the wood carvings was a piece that stood taller than me and very large around. It was one piece of wood and they had carved lobsters and crab and 2 large fishing style baskets one on the top and one on the bottom of the piece. But what was amazing was it was carved on the inside as well as the outside and the piece of wood was still one piece. Then in the ivory area we saw 2 pieces that were smaller than a pinky fingernail that someone has etched on. The first held over a complete poem and the other held over 100 chinese characters engraved on it. Most of the temple area was open to the weather elements. So we had to have EG's jacket on her and her little hands were still cold!!! We were cold also(Yes I was cold too!). We left there and headed back to the hotel at 12:00pm. Oh by the way we bought the coolest cup that the symbols on the outside mean double happiness and when you pour hot water on it the whole glass changes to different images from the temple. I thought it was so cool!!

Once we got back to the hotel we headed to give Rebecca and Lily their gifts before we leave tomorrow. We hope that they like them!!!! Then we surprised ourselves and had Rebecca and Lily write down 2 places we wanted to go in Chinese. Then we got a taxi and gave them the piece of paper and they took us there. We went to LiWan Center and Shamien Island. We did make it there and back with no problems. But it was kind of odd, because we did not speak any Chinese and we are trusting them to take us where it was on the paper. At Shamien Island---it was kind of spooky because over half the shops are already closed for the Chinese New Year and the families are headed home. So an area that was hopping a week ago looked like a ghost town. We met with another couple from Idaho and we had lunch at Lucy's one more time before we leave. Then we went to LiWan center and it was the same. But the shops Chris and I wanted to see were still open(except for Michael's), so we were lucky.

Then we headed back to the hotel and we all laid down and rested. So now yes--we are getting a few things ready to come home and we will finish in the morning!!!! Please again keep us in your prayers on our travels home!!!!! We are a little concerned about getting from the train to the hotel in Hong Kong, but they say that it will be practically abandoned because Chinese New Years Eve and it is like Chistmas Eve. People are with family and friends.

Thanks again for reading and keeping us in your prayers!!!! Also thanks, thanks, thanks for all the encouraging comments and emails we have received over the last 2 weeks. They have really kept us going!!!!

Love to everyone!!!!!

Burbank's