11-29-09 Lotus Mountain

Today we had an excursion to Lotus Mountain. We went with another family Jay and Jen from our Agency. It is not a well known tourist spot and therefore we were the only foreigners there. It was nice to have some solitude from the masses of adoptive parents on Shamian Island in Guangzhou. It took us a little over an hour to get there but the ride was worth it. The first area we visited was a rock quarry where the first King (governor) of Guangzhou had the people (slaves) cut out massive stones (2 tons each) out of the Mountain load them on boats and then take them upstream to Guangzhou for his tomb. This was all done over 2000 years ago. It was amazing to see the scale of the cliffs they had to cut out and the size of the stones. You can still see where they fastened the scaffolds to the walls and the cut marks and what not. We stood in awe for a long time just looking over the area. Then we climbed down to the bottom and walked around and it became even more impressive. The Chinese are amazing engineers and workers. We then climbed back up, (we kept looking for an elevator or something but never found one, ha ha.) and we realized why they called it a mountain and not a hill. We were all huffing and puffing carrying our kids back up to the top. Once we got to the top, we had to stop and catch our breath and rest. Conveniently located right there was a man that was writing peoples names on a grain of rice and putting them in crystals on a necklace. So we had the girls Chinese names done for them.

Resting at the top of the steps, it wore Meilin out too!

After this area we went up the mountain just a few 100 yards or so to a huge Buddha overlooking the river. This Buddha is unusual in that it is a female. There are not that many huge female Buddhas supposedly and so we walked all around and watched the Chinese burn their incense and pray and worship to the Buddha. There was a huge bell you could ring for the Buddha so the girls used it as a swing. Meilin was not a huge fan of the loud sound of the bell and would cry when it was rung, so we didn't stay near the bell for long. In that area they were selling a bubble machine and Meigan was going nuts for it, well we put Meilin down to see the bubbles and she loved them. She was laughing and smiling and trying to run after the bubbles, so I bought one. I'm a sucker I know, but if it makes the kids smile, it's worth it. There was also another huge Buddha inside a huge pagoda, it resembled more of a Hindu Buddha, but we where told it was the original Buddha to China, and then there was the fat sitting Buddha that everyone was rubbing his stomach for good luck right below the big one.

New Chinese Swing!

Forget about the Buddhas, Bubbles are where it's at!

After that we drove back home, had a late lunch early dinner at Lucy's. Jodie had her Thai Green Curry and I had Fettuccine Alfredo with chicken. Meilin actually ate Congee (rice porridge) today and finished the whole bowl off. We are having a hard time trying to figure out what she likes to eat, she wouldn't eat congee before, and Meigan normally loves it and she wouldn't touch it today. We came home and gave the girls a bath and put them to bed early. Meilin has to get 3 more shots tomorrow and so we wanted her well rested, not to mention we have to leave at 7:45 am for them.