Temples and Trees

Margo is doing really well! She appears to be quite content in our arms or the stroller but has no desire to walk! She has not taken a step for a week now! I guess she is really enjoying being taken care of! She appears to be a people watcher and gets quite engrossed in watching others but does not interact very much! The occasional stranger can get a smile out of her but mostly she will give them a serious stare! She loves to be on the go and gets excited when we head out of the hotel room!

Today we toured the Liu Rong Temple otherwise known as the Six Banyan Temple. It is surrounded by ancient Banyan trees. It is 1000 years old and 17 stories high! They used to allow tourist to go inside the Pagoda but now the doors are locked.

We were taken to a government-run store for souvenir shopping. We were told stores owned by the government guaranteed the quality and authenticity of the products. We were also told that you cannot barter at the store and since the quality is good, the price is high!

After leaving the store, we were taken to a local park that was near our guide’s home. The park is a bonsai garden park and on the right/left of the path are bonsai trees on small tables. The park also has a “children’s teaching” area. The teaching area has a vegetable garden, fishing pools and a sand box. We were told that the grandparents take the children to the park while the parents work. Most of the young adults do not move far from home and once they buy an apartment, (or their parents buy them an apartment after marriage) they will keep the apartment for life. We were told that if you work for the government, you can only have one child. If you have more than one child you can lose your job. If you are not a government worker, and you want to have a second child, you must wait six years. If you want to have a third child, you can have your third child anytime but you must pay a 10,000 yuan fine.

The men and babies were brought back to the hotel while the women were taken to a large children’s clothing mart. Most of the stores in the clothing mart were wholesale. The stores required you to buy 5 or more of the same item but in different sizes so the trip was a bit disappointing. Five years ago that was not the case as the stores were retail. Our guide told us the change came because people were buying an item and then copying the item for their own retail stores. At least we will not have to sit on our suitcases in order to close them! Tomorrow we are visiting the Safari Park!