CHEN FAMILY TEMPLE

Today was a fairly relaxing day of sightseeing and souvenir shopping. Our group sort of broke up into several different camps today with some heading off to the zoo, others shopping and some sightseeing. We opted for the tourist attractions and spent the morning at the Chen Family Temple.

 Flower fish was not part of the temple but cool nonetheless.

This giant fish was part of a grouping of fish that stood easily 25 feet tall and 50 feet wide in a pavilion in front of the temple. It was made up entirely of living flowers and a man was watering the fish while we were there. Again all you gardeners out there, it is time to step up your game. We fully expect enormous living sculptures in all your gardens by late spring.

Veronica: Our New Guide

We have had the same guide for most of our trip but he left us when we flew to Guangzhou. Veronica is our new guide and she is marvelous. It's so nice to have someone organize transportation and provide us with running commentary regarding current Chinese culture as well as historical background to all the various sites we have explored. Both guides have been very funny and have shared little anecdotal tidbits that we never would have had otherwise. Plus they help order off menus where we don't have a clue.

Chen Family Temple

Again the architectural detail and artistry of the buildings is nothing short of astounding. We learned that this particular family home was pretty much gutted as part of the cultural revolution because it was deemed too capitalistic. Also, Chinese families do not own the land that their houses sit on and every 70 years the government offers families a chance to buy their houses again or they get confiscated.

Outside of every gate are two lions, a male and a female. We saw the same in Beijing at the Forbidden City. The male holds a ball under his paw while the female holds a baby.

These enormous doors stood about 20-feet high and had imposing figures painted on the outside. Veronica told us about how in Chinese culture the houses are all built around the concept of Feng Shui with everything positioned in a way to invite positive energy flow and protect against unlucky energy. There was a huge wall immediately facing the front doors that was placed there to contain the positive inside and serve as a barrier to the bad. Also, there is a wooden threshold that we had to step over to enter the temple and we were told that during courting in traditional arranged marriages, if a family did not like the male suitor, they would use the polite phrase of saying his family's threshold was too high for their daughter. A nice way to say, yeah we're not interested. I'll have to remember that one when Juni starts dating. Either that or paint our front door like the one above.

Steve on video duty and we occasionally run into each other lens to lens.

These were so beautiful. They used to be painted on rice paper and were delicate windows in the home.

Part of a shrine where family members would bow down to their Chen family ancestors. There were sticks of incense in front of the shrine but they were not lit today. I felt weird about taking photos here so I only took a detail shot.

After we left the Chen Family Temple, we headed to a government gift shop where the items for sale were of much better quality than the ones on the island. There were many beautiful things including bright silks, intricate jade sculptures and traditional chops. We didn't take any photos of the shopping excursion nor the lunch we had at a delicious Macau restaurant. Steve and I were in heaven with the multitude of spices and curries served up. 

The Pearl Market

This place is usually hopping but we were here just days before Chinese New Year and the city is starting to empty out. A lot of the shops are closed and this entire Pearl Market was boarded up except for a few stores. I think that the one we went to was open because they had arranged for us to come.

A saleswoman told us about how to determine the quality of pearls and what to look for. I'm not much of a pearl kinda gal, but still appreciated the lesson. I was more astounded however by the sheer number of pearls in the place. There must have been hundreds of thousands and they came in all shapes and sizes. There were fresh water, salt water, natural hued and those dyed to any color imaginable. And let's not limit ourselves to jewelry here folks. There were legions of pearl animals as well.

Some of the stacks of dyed pearls. Funny they look like corn cobs in this photo.

I haven't put any photos of Juni in for today because our camera battery died early on and I had to rely only on video to capture her cuteness. So I'll leave you all with this photo from yesterday which will just have to hold you over until tomorrow's adventures.

Love to you all!