3/29/07
Today we went to my favorite temple of the trip. It was about a mile or less walk up (and I do mean up) an old cobble stone trail to the Taoist monastery. It was a beautiful walk. It featured a very cool resting spot on the side, a cave with natural air conditioning. It was the perfect refreshing rest area about half way to the monastery.
There was also a small pagodaesk building that was open called the Sunrise Terrace, it took full advantage of the view available and I am sure would be breathtaking at sunrise.
A bit farther up the view opens and you can see a full view of the lake an Hangzhou. It was panoramic and on such a perfectly sunny day was a picture of beauty.
The beauty seemed to be the perfect frame as you turn a corner on the trail and then have the expanse of the temple in front of you. It is serene and beautiful at the temple. There are not so many people there (due to the trek to get there I'm sure) and it is kept very clean and inviting. We were allowed to take pictures around the temple, just not in it.
I was shown by one of the monks the proper way to cow-tow, and she lead me through how you pray at their temple. It was interesting to learn how another religion chooses to pray. During the cow-tow another monk rang a gong as I did each cow-tow. It was a moving experience to have her want to share this with me. I didn't notice anyone else doing this.
It is a special memory for me of this temple.
We also went to the Silk museum today and I got to take pictures of many different types of looms and learned even more about the varieties of silk and how it is produced. I am in love with the silk bedding. It is like a down comforter but the inside is silk fibers....wow! Breathable, but able to keep heat and very very nice! I drooled over the silk covers for said beds, but they are at the moment a bit out of my price range. They were wanting about $200 for the bed and about $400 for the cover. They are soooo luxurious and silky smooth.....ohhhhhhh! I have duvet cover envy!!
After lunch and the museum we went to Silk Town a silk market area to shop. It was amazing to see the quality differences from store to store. It was not a fixed price market, but the availability to haggle was a lot less than previous markets. I still had fun though and found a couple of scarfs for my trouble.
An enjoyable day that ended with a white Russian in a jazz bar near the university. It was odd to hear American jazz being played in the bar after only hearing Chinese for so many days. It was refreshing and made me long to be home....B. B. King can do that to a girl.
There was also a small pagodaesk building that was open called the Sunrise Terrace, it took full advantage of the view available and I am sure would be breathtaking at sunrise.
A bit farther up the view opens and you can see a full view of the lake an Hangzhou. It was panoramic and on such a perfectly sunny day was a picture of beauty.
The beauty seemed to be the perfect frame as you turn a corner on the trail and then have the expanse of the temple in front of you. It is serene and beautiful at the temple. There are not so many people there (due to the trek to get there I'm sure) and it is kept very clean and inviting. We were allowed to take pictures around the temple, just not in it.
I was shown by one of the monks the proper way to cow-tow, and she lead me through how you pray at their temple. It was interesting to learn how another religion chooses to pray. During the cow-tow another monk rang a gong as I did each cow-tow. It was a moving experience to have her want to share this with me. I didn't notice anyone else doing this.
It is a special memory for me of this temple.
We also went to the Silk museum today and I got to take pictures of many different types of looms and learned even more about the varieties of silk and how it is produced. I am in love with the silk bedding. It is like a down comforter but the inside is silk fibers....wow! Breathable, but able to keep heat and very very nice! I drooled over the silk covers for said beds, but they are at the moment a bit out of my price range. They were wanting about $200 for the bed and about $400 for the cover. They are soooo luxurious and silky smooth.....ohhhhhhh! I have duvet cover envy!!
After lunch and the museum we went to Silk Town a silk market area to shop. It was amazing to see the quality differences from store to store. It was not a fixed price market, but the availability to haggle was a lot less than previous markets. I still had fun though and found a couple of scarfs for my trouble.
An enjoyable day that ended with a white Russian in a jazz bar near the university. It was odd to hear American jazz being played in the bar after only hearing Chinese for so many days. It was refreshing and made me long to be home....B. B. King can do that to a girl.