Blessed by a Buddhist monk

Sorry to not post about our day yesterday -- we were just too darned tired! We may begin posting every other day from here on out, given the amount of time it takes to upload the photos, post the blog and all. It was a really great day. We had a group tour of some areas of Guangzhou, beginning with a Buddhist temple, where the babies got blessed by a monk and where Melissa and Henry were able to burn incense and make a special wish. Then we went to a provincial arts store, where there was a lot of very interesting stuff to buy, from Chinese porcelain (China) to jade pieces, to hanging art, to Shnapps with three whole snakes (including a cobra) curled up at the bottom of the bottle. Not your average tequila with a tiny little worm at the bottom. Then we went to an amazing folk arts museum that was formerly a wealthy person's home (centuries ago). Finally, we had a spectacular traditional Cantonese group lunch, where they put a whole bunch of food on a big 'ol lazy susan in the middle of the table. When we walked out into the street to go to the bus, crowds of people three deep kept surrounding us to check us all out. Every once in a while, you hear someone say in broken english "Lucky baby!" It's really humbling to hear. Pool in the afternoon in between massive lightning storms, then early to bed. Apparently we have a typhoon bearing down upon us today, so we'll see what happens! Here are the day's photos, all 89 of them!! http://www.flickr.com/photos/caira/sets/748916/ Sorry some are sideways, as I didn't have the time to straighten them out.

Love,

Rich, Melissa, Henry and Mae