Yesterday was a day for religious observation. Weather your religion is found under a neon cross, a 40 foot gold buddha, or signs marked “SALE”.
We started our day by visiting an english-speaking government-registered church. There were two presiding Chinese pastors (a man and a woman, of whom the man communicated a caveat about women having just as much of an opportunity to serve as they are gifted within the church) and a Chinese music leader with a contemporary/western “worship” music line-up. There was a visiting guest speaker from Kenya who had some good words about life before faith being like death, which is a totally level field (ie – you can not be dead-er or dead-est, just dead; in need of salvation).
Lunch followed with a round-table family style lunch of 15 different dishes from the south of China. The “special guest” of the meal was an assortment of grubs! I tried the bee, and a couple others.
Following the leisurely lunch we made our way to the Lamma Temple and Hutons before it closed. The temple was made of various gates and structures. Unlike the temples I had seen in Japan – mostly Shinto – these were less landscaped and more detailed in their painting and adornment of the idols. Many custodians were collecting incense offerings and cleaning out ash at the end of a busy day. Surrounding the temple is a district of traditional architecture called the Hutons, which are group/family homes centered around courtyards. They have plain walls surrounding them that make for rather lovely streets.
Ending the day we wandered through these Hutons into Hou Hai – a tourist district of shopping, and various bars and restaurants with live music.
I was able to take many more photos and video on my roommates camera, but here are a couple for now…