Our Day out with Ann

What a sweet day for me. We not only enjoyed some sightseeing and shopping in Guangzhou, but we also got to do it with my friend Ann. Ann and her family are living near Hong Kong this year and she was able to hop the train and get away for a day from them to be from us.

This morning she arrived in time to enjoy our breakfast buffet with us at the hotel. Then we loaded up on the bus for three stops in town. The first was to a Buddhist temple.


Amidst the strong smell of incense, we learned about the Buddha statues. First was the "Happy Buddha" to greet us and then there were others throughout the temple. As I watched men and women worshipping those statues, my heart broke. It is true that in the heart of man is that drive to worship. But what will we worship? Sadly, in China, many worship idols.

I asked our tour guide Grace if she practices Buddhism and she told me that she didn't and that was because she learned in school that there was no God. I followed up by asking her what most people in China believed and she said that only older people still came to worship for the most part. But then she surprised me and said that Christianity is growing. Isn't that interesting that she would say that?

After the temple we visited the Old Chen House. The "Chen" name in Guangzhou is like Smith or Johnson in America. It is a home for any in the Chen family and was a place to worship your ancestors. It was not Buddhism, but a place to honor your family. Now the government owns and operates it.

Then we went on to shop. Shopping in China is not like the U.S. There are places where you can barter and places where you can't. There are places that jip you off with fake things or might give you fake money in change and other places that are for real. We bought a little stroller full prices yesterday that we should have bartered for and today went to barter somewhere that you aren't supposed to do that. What a learning curve.


After that (while Nathan slept), Ann and I enjoyed lunch together and some time walking around and doing a little local shopping. I loved finding the little panda puppet for Nathan. He will stick his little hand inside it too and has already had fun playing with it!! It's been quite a day. A day out with our new son and a friend from our North Carolina days. Thanks Lord for time spent with those we love!