Adventures in Guangzhou!

Mal and Tyler had no idea they were getting put up in a hotel, let alone one of the nicest ones around. I should also mention that these hotel rooms were inevitably booked a day or so before arrival which is crazy, given that this past week is consistently one of the busiest tourist times in the entire year. Lets just say Phillip and his family "know" people and pretty much call the shots around the city. So we got up good and early and went downstairs to enjoy the hotel breakfast--a veritable feast complete with omelette bar, hash browns, fried rice, tasty noodles, some veggies, good breads, and the kicker-- orange juice! Needless to say, I had several plates. After breakfast, Andy, Christi, and Mal decided to go back to bed and/or do some errands while Tyler and I went with Phillip and his buddy Alexander to the Lingyin Temple.

Despite the fact that the Lingyin Temple has been destroyed and restored about 16 times since it was first built around 320 c.e., it still feels like a piece of ancient China. The temple is set up in the hills and with the overcast weather, the clouds and mist added to the antiquated feeling of the place. The couplet inscribed at the Hall of The Four Heavenly Guardians (huge scary looking statues) reads, "cloud forest Buddhist temple." That pretty much says it all right there. To date, the Lingyin Temple is the most amazing thing I have seen in China. The history, architecture, and natural beauty, in conjunction with the monks walking around in old religious garb all contribute to a magical vibe about the place. I found it fascinating how there was a beautiful temple followed by steps up to another beautiful temple, all with a Buddha representing something different. They even claim to have the world's largest indoor buddha, at somewhere around 60m high. My favorite though was either the one with the elaborate wood carving where people pray for marriage or the temple with the white Buddha symbolizing justice. Check out my pictures for some idea of what it was like, though even they don't do it justice.

Tyler and I felt a bit awkward since Phillip paid for the taxi, the bus, the entrance fees (not cheap), and all our food. We thanked him profusely and tried to pay but he refused. After a while we figured his parents had just given him a bit of money and he was in a generous mood. More on that later...

I had emailed Ian Hanks, Wes graduate and PiA-er in Shanghai to let him know I'd be in his neck of the woods but he replied that he was going to be in Bangladesh that week with a friend. Luckily for all of us, Ian's plans fell through due to some visa issues so he came to meet us all that evening in Hangzhou. So after four hours or so of exploring the temple and the grounds around the different buildings, we headed back into the city to meet up with Ian and to rally the crew for dinner. Phillip made a recommendation for a restaurant and we had a ridiculous feast once again, in an area that has a charming little pedestrian walkway with a bunch of shops. We walked around for a while, did some window shopping, and generally just took in the scene. I made my only real purchase of the break here and picked up a wood carving of a lion after some minor bargaining. I love the fact that I see lions everywhere in China, being my namesake and all. It's somehow comforting in a weird kind of way.

Though we couldn't get in touch with Mal, we headed out to a place aptly named the "Cool Bar." Here we tossed a few back with the locals and made some Chinese friends. A table of some random dudes invited us over and proceeded to make toasts every five seconds and shake our hands non-stop. It seems they were quite a few rounds ahead of us. Regardless, they were great and now I can say I've had drinks with a Mongolian and his passed out boss from the Sichuan Province. The only less-than-cool aspect of the Cool Bar was its bathroom. If I thought the WC on the train was bad, this put it to shame. I won't go into detail but lets just say that I couldn't even stand in there for more than about 5 seconds before fighting the urge to get rid of my dinner.

We headed back to Andy and Christi's place to chill out and get a couple hours of sleep before our early morning wake-up to meet Phillip for a tour of some village a few hours outside the city. My thoughts as I drifted off to bed related to how awesome the PiA-ers are and once again how lucky I am. I guess this type of experience draws a certain type of person to begin with, but all the fellows I've spent time with are so interesting, so smart, and so adventurous. What a great crew of kids to vacation with! Not only was everyone always up for trying something new or something "weird," but our conversations were consistently stimulating and amusing at the same time.