Saturday at the Tengwang Pagoda

Our day started out without incident. Linda slept through the night as always and woke up right on time. She appears to be fine after yesterdays little episode.

Only 2 more days in Nanchang and we went to visit the Tengwang Pagoda. To the people of Nanchang and the Jiangxi province, this is a very special place. Originally built in 680, the pagoda has been rebuilt 29 times. I guess if you are that old you need a face lift every so often. Mostly it has been rebuilt due to some destruction, usually fire. The latest rebuild has it mostly made of concrete, but it sure is one nice structure. The Pagoda is walking distance from the hotel, so the group marched off at 9:30am. Of course, by the time we get there, about 5 minutes, Linda was just dozing off. Go figure.

We walked the “yard” around the pagoda. There were reflection ponds and statues. Some ponds had coy (sp?) swimming around like mad as children fed them. We found out that it is about 50 Yuan a day to visit and residence of Nanchang can pay 80 Yuan for a year round pass. It is a pleasant place to be.

As I mentioned, Linda missed most of it sleeping and we did our best to keep her out of the sun. She will not wear her hat. Nope. Nada. She refuses in every way imaginable. I guess it is because the hat did not match her attire. Oh, boy, here we go! There are statues around the pagoda that are of the Chinese zodiac. We had to get our picture taken by the rooster as this is Linda’s sign.

At the top of the pagoda we were treated to a performance of Chinese dance and music. After the “main” performance there was a special performance for our group. Using traditional Chinese instruments they played Swaney (sp?) River which cracked me up. I doubt they were mocking us, but it sure is funny to think this is how we are perceived. Everyone is different. When we are out and about I wear my Tilley hat. To the locals it looks like a cowboy hat.

After we left the pagoda, we ate at a restaurant that is right near the entrance. It came highly recommended by our hosts. Most food here in Nanchang and the Jiangxi province is hot and spicy, so our host wrote down some dishes that would not be flaming. The wait staff had fun with Linda and we enjoyed our meal. It must have been the best on the trip yet.

We returned to the hotel and spent time with Linda. We gave her a bath, of which she is slowly becoming accustomed. We lay on the bed with her and play. Our hidden motive is to tire her out for her afternoon nap. This seems to become a chore these last two days. Finally we got her tired enough and put her down.

Like yesterday, she did not like to wake up from said nap. Today she managed to roll onto her belly when she woke up. She did not scream like yesterday, but she definitely was frightened and started crying. It took a bit to calm her down, but once relaxed and her afternoon bottle was downed, she is back to being the happy playful Linda. Fascinating. Of all the toys, which we did not bring many, the water bottle has become this afternoon’s favorite. Kind of makes you chuckle.

That’s all for now. Take a look at yesterday’s posting as I have uploaded pictures of our trip to the village.