Beijing

I have fallen behind in my blogging. It's kind of feast or famine with me it seems. Anyway, I fell behind because of our fabulous trip to Beijing! The Chinese government blocks blogs so we could not access our blog there or anyone else's. (I guess it's part of their strict media control.)

We went for a week and 2 of those days Adam had a Law & Religion Symposium. I actually did really well getting around Beijing with just Marian and me. Most the signs were in Chinese and English, which was great. The challenge was that no one spoke English, whereas in Hong Kong, almost everyone speaks at least some. Anyway, it was great when Adam's meetings were over and he could communicate.

We saw the major tourist attractions and also talked to some American/church member attorneys practicing international law there. That was very helpful in giving us a realistic view of what life is like for them. It is definitely not for the faint of heart. It sounds like 70-80 hr weeks are normal for them. One attorney's wife told us how on her husband's third day out of town, one of their kids prayed for their dad in his travels. One of the other kids said, "Dad's out of town?" Anyway, Adam and I have done a lot of thinking/talking/praying about if this is the direction we want to take our family. Don't get me wrong. These are great people and have created strong gospel-centered homes. But going into it knowing what we now know feels a little scary.

Anyway, on to the fun stuff...Last Monday the three of us went to Tiananmen Square to start out the day. It is huge! It's also a little eerie to think of the sad uprising/massacre that happened in 1989, with no mention of it there (of course).



We were dressed up because we went out to lunch with an attorney, Robert Lewis, and his wife. They treated us to the most delicious and authentic Chinese food I've ever had! I've been pretty conservative with eating food here because I don't want to get sick. I loved this though--even the fish! We sat in a little booth down in the ground and we had to take our shoes off. (The person taking the picture is on ground level.)



After lunch we went to the Temple of Heaven. This is where the emperors would go pray for a good harvest every year. It's a huge park and the temple buildings are scattered throughout the park. This is the Hall of Prayers for Good Harvests (or something like that--the main building).


One part of the temple was a circular three-level terrace. On the very top was a marble stone that, supposedly, if you stand on and speak, the gods can hear you very well. So people go stand and speak/pray and have their picture taken. Well we put Marian on it...


and here is the crowd that gathered around to take pictures! Man, Adam and I would have this whole Hong Kong trip paid for if we charged for every picture with or of her!


It was fun because the people gathered in the park and played instruments, sang, did karaoke, danced, played cards, etc. etc. I enjoyed seeing them in their element. They seemed to really have fun. This guy was so cute playing a strange 2 stringed instrument with the bow attached. He liked Marian and started playing "Jingle Bells" and "Doe, a deer..."




And here are some ladies dancing.



Well, that's all for now. More to come because that's only one day of our Beijing adventure!