1st June


"I think ma sista would like it!" I turn around, startled by this strong London accent. Two ladies stand, peering into a glass cabinet. I have seen a few temples now here on my short trips, with the empty halls allowing the wind to pass by peacefully and the monks go about their daily routine but The Jade Buddha Temple seemed to be staged. I was trying hard to find some kind of authenticity or peace amongst the noisy tourists and Chinese men hassling you to be your tour guide but finding time to myself to really take in the impressive scale of the Buddha's or beauty of the artwork on the walls, it was a struggle. These factors were there for me to see but I couldn't find any harmony or bubble to lose myself in it all.


3 giant golden Buddha statues stood under the beautifully painted ceiling. A swirling design in the centre of the ceiling felt like it could just take you in, into another world. Even though it was so high up, the detail was striking.
For an extra fee of 10Yuan, I made my way up some spiralling, wooden steps to see the Jade Buddha, standing at 2 meters tall. In this part of the temple, photos aren't allowed. It was smaller than I thought, but impress thinking it was completely made of Jade, weighing 205kg. I could imagine how smooth and cool it would be to touch.


I found The Jade Buddha Temple an un-spiritual encounter. The temple felt empty, lacking a holy presence. Shame.



2nd June



Checklist:
Tried a Pig Nose


A lady stands at a stall in front of a small rock formation and waterfall. Surrounding her in many boxes where different animals and insects. 5 containers held numerous different sizes of turtles, small cages contained many mice lying around with their alive and dead friends and rabbits passed out from the heat. Loud clicking noises came from small wicker style boxed, which enclosed large Grasshoppers. Not only had they been put in here, but hanging amongst some toys where some plastic, circus style cages, holding big Grasshoppers, as if they themselves were toys.


Qibao is a small, river town, with cobbled streets and traditional Chinese style buildings, but unfortunatly it didn't capture me like Suzhou did.
So far with my two days off work, I've been to two places that the guide book has recommended but I've been dissapointed. Tourists, set-ups, that's not what I want. I think it's back to word of mouth with my next explorations, I want to feel stimulated by what I see.


Taking photos of chicks with skewers pierced through their eye sockets, I noticed several cooked pig noses. I took some photos and walked off around the corner, suddenly stopping, "Do it!" I told myself and returned back to the meat stall and bought a nose. I found a spot to myself and opened the bag. I tried to bite into it but it was so tough, my front teeth couldn't pierce through and then the some of the sharp hair from the nose touched my upper lip and I freaked, nearly dropping it! It was horrible! Not again thank you, I do not recommend it!

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