Traveling Back in Time: Back to China DAY 8- Part Two!

So we had two things on our tour itinerary that Friday: The Temple & Yuexiu Park

The temple was first and I showed pics of it in Part One.  The second half of our day was spent in Yuexiu Park, the largest park in the city of Guangzhou.

This journey in the park started very much like our trip to the temple, with a very obstinate and upset little boy who was just not interested in being there or doing any of it!!  Very early on he refused to walk.  He just stood there with a blank stare and wouldn't walk with us.  So Baba did what a good Baba does, picked him up and told him that it was time to keep going.

We were amazed how many people were in the park on a Friday around noon.  It was filled with hundreds of people!!  There were many groups of older ladies doing their morning dances together with a stereo blasting out their music.  Flinging their colorful scarfs all around as they'd pivot from side to side.  :)  Unfortunately I think Chengbin was doing a meltdown at the time and I missed pictures of it.

We climbed a huge number of stairs to find a little shop right there in the park and the Five Rams Statue.  It is a symbol of Guangzhou.

This little girl was a trooper!!!  She was so patient and very excited to do everything.  She loved looking at all the little China souvenirs in the shop next to the Statue.  It was blazing hot & humid, but she never complained.  She was just so happy to see this...

Our guide led us back down the hill into a recreation area where many people were in circles playing the Chinese version of hacky sack.  It was as we stood watching that it happened... he cracked a smile..

At first it was a little one, but then a man came over to show the kids his hacky sack skills and then handed them over the hacky sack to try out!!

Chengbin watched for a few minutes as Kate and her friend JD kicked it around, then decided he wanted a turn!

He tried OVER, and OVER, and OVER again to kick the hacky sack!!!  Then he came up with his own way, my brilliant boy!!

He would pretend to kick it, but throw it behind him instead!!! LOL

 So a cute little blond haired, blue eyed girl was playing around in the park along with her blond haired, blue eyed friend and her adopted brother.  What can I say?  We drew a crowd!!

And our little celebrity was asked to pose with a few girls too!!  She was very sweet and happily posed, very much enjoying the attention (since so much had been on her brother this week)!!

Chengbin was learning that getting out of the hotel room can be fun!!  He was very happy that afternoon, even after we left the park, dripping with sweat and exhausted from the heat/humidity that is beyond anything we've ever experienced in Florida!!

So when dinnertime came, we decided to make a trip back over to a noodle house we'd eaten at on Matt's birthday.  We were feeling brave since Chengbin seemed to have snapped out of his sullenness and was happy!

Matt's seriously tired and hungry look. ;)

 Everything we ordered here was SO delicious!!!  Chengbin's happy streak definitely continued!!

 My mouth waters just looking at pics of the food there!!

 

 

What started out as a rough day ended up being our best day yet, but the truth is, our touring had just begun!  We had more days left in China!  At the end of Day 8, we were hopeful that we might just be able to pull of a little more touring.

 

Thanks for stopping by to reminisce,

Fannie, Matt, Katie, & Chengbin

Traveling Back In Time: Back to China DAY 8- Part one

If there was one word I could use to describe our trip to China last summer I think I would say "Chaotic"...

Trying to get out there and see China when dealing with a seriously slumpy, seriously obstinate little five year old who didn't speak our language was exceptionally trying on all of us.  Perhaps that is why I stopped blogging while we were there... I was just TOO exhausted to blog!!

But just because I stopped blogging doesn't mean our trip stopped, so I've decided to take us all back in time, to talk about what did happen during the rest of our China trip.  The truth is, I stopped blogging right as it all got a lot better.  Each day was better than the one before!

So, we're traveling back in time on this beautiful Friday to our first Friday with Chengbin in China.  Day 8 of our trip and our fifth day with Chengbin!

 This was our first day of touring.  We hoped for the best, but at the time Chengbin was extremely difficult when we would leave our hotel room and go out in public.  He would just plain- shut down.
But China only lasts so long and we thought maybe, just maybe, taking him out might do him some good.  Our first stop was to a Buddhist Temple in Guangzhou.

He really wasn't sure about any of this.  He was slumpy and did not smile at all.

 

 

This monk was just sitting at the entrance next to this great big freaky statue.. He seemed so at peace to be sitting next to this thing...

 Looking at his expression reminds me how far he really has come... He just didn't know WHAT to think!!  I asked him now what he was thinking and he says he was scared.

 The buildings and architecture were just beautiful.  I tried so hard to capture the details that made it so special.

 This man was offering sacrifices to one of the "Gods"... This is the part that as a Christian made me sad.  I wonder if this man has ever been told about Jesus?

 This is female Buddha who was described as the god of protection.  There was a group of ladies standing in front of her with their sacrifices, bowing up and down, up and down.  It's probably the moment that stands out the most.  I would figure out why this stands out a few days later...

Can you see why we were exhausted??  He didn't want to walk.  He didn't want to be carried.  He simply did not want to be there at all.  Now he can explain to me that he just wanted to keep playing with his toys in the hotel room.  But it was exhausting going around with Mr. Obstinate. ;)

 Kate tried so hard to be sweet and cheer him up, but nothing worked... By the time we got back into the van he was crying.  Matt & I both felt defeated, but then, he did this...

He grabbed his Baba's arm!  And we all calmed down and mustered up the strength for round 2- the park!!

Thanks for stopping by to reminisce,
Fannie, Matt, Katie, & Chengbin