Lama Temple (no, not llama)

Last weekend Chelsie and I ventured to the Lama Temple. We've been going to get our nails done in a little hutong the whole time we've been here and the Lama Temple is right across the street from that hutong...but somehow we've never gone in! So we decided it was time. Malinda even went with us so it was lots of fun to finally know what was going on!

This is what I like about China - in all the touristy places, even the trash cans are fancy!

Thanks for coming Malinda!!

 There were lots and lots of different places for people to pray. They burn incense at the outside prayer locations. Malinda informed us that the more smoke the incense produces, the more likely your wish (prayer) will come true.

Chinese people are very superstitious - they believe that if you turn these prayer wheels it'll bring good things to your life. I figured I should get in on this.

Also, they're big on weird animals. Turtle shell, lion feet, and a dragon head. Nifty.

We also caught a glimpse of some of the lamas.

Then, unexpectedly, we stumbled across this fun fact:

The picture doesn't do it justice....this thing was at least 3 stories high.

This is where the lamas study

The seat where the Dali Lama sat to teach sutra

On our way out we saw lots of people looking into this big basin. Malinda told us that in old China they would keep water in the basin and use it to put out fires.









We also kept seeing signs on the trees and finally read one. It said "please detour during thunder storms". Are we supposed to get closer to the trees or go further away from them? Who knows....









We've also discovered a delicious fruit called persimmons. Do you know what a persimmon is? Let me tell you. It's a little fruit that looks like a tomato but is rather quite sweet and strangely mushy and slimy. Unlike tomatoes, persimmons grow on trees....nifty, eh?

 
One last note...I love love love how many couples things China has. Not seen until today: couples balloons.