The best day yet!!
Today (Sunday) was the best day we have had since we arrived- by far!!! We arranged to rent a car for the day and go to the Underwater Aquarium and Museum, the Zhanshan Buddhist Temple, and the trestle that goes out into the Yellow Sea. We went with Aphea and Kayla, islanders from Tobago. We knew from the beginning that we would be getting a lot of stares just because of our races, not to mention the fact that we had handicapped children! At 9:30 sharp, two young men met us outside of our room and showed us down to the cars. They pulled right up on the front landing and opened the doors for us. What service! We knew it was going to be a great day!
After a very “interesting” venture through the heavy traffic, we arrived at Underwater World. As we bumped Brayden and Kayla down about 100 steps, we started drawing a crowd. Between the 3 kids, we were quite a site I guess. Some would just stare rudely, but some would come and rub Brayden and Kayla on the arm and face and give them a really gentle smile. Lots and lots pointed at Brylie. American baby girls are a big thing here. We finally got our tickets, and made our way to the entrance. I had to laugh bc there were like 2 very big tour bus loads of people waiting in line, but we got to bust right through and go through the wheelchair gate! However, once we got in, we had NO CLUE where the heck to go! Apparently is was very obvious bc a group of about 100 kids all started laughing hystarically at us as we tried to make sense of the signs. We finally just decided to follow them in. The place was awesome!!! Lots of crazy fish, turtles, and sea creatures. We were having such a great time, we even let it slide when the locals nearly knocked us over about a million times trying to get to the optimal picture taking place before we did. We learned that if you just wait it out, the crowd will clear for about 2 minutes. The best thing in the world happened as we entered the aquarium. It is like a big dome tunnel. The fish, sting rays, turtles, etc. are swimming above you and to both sides. As soon as we walked in, Brayden bent his neck backward to look up at the top of the aquarium! Never before has he done that! He usually keeps his head down or straight ahead. We were soooo excited!!! The rest of the Underwater World was not handicapped accessible at all. However, the security guards were very quick to help us to the nearest hidden elevator so we could make our way around. There really aren’t any handicapped signs to show us where to go, but what they lack in accessibility they most certainly make up for in kindness. As we were leaving, a Chinese man stopped Jason and asked him where he was from. When Jason said we were from America, he shook Jason’s hand and kept telling him thank you for coming to China. That was something we will never forget! We had a great time and loved to see all of the creatures from the Yellow Sea.
Next we were off to the temple. Outside of the Temple, they were selling huge sticks that looked like really big sparklers, but Aphea told me that it smelled like incense. We, well me, being from SEK was wondering what the heck kind of hippie party was gonna go on at this joint!! Not long after we entered, a group of young Chinese kids stopped me and asked if they could take their picture with me and with Brylie. We got to play movie star for the moment!! What a rush! The temple was, of course, at the very top of a big hill, so we had to carry wheelchairs and strollers up lots and lots of steps!!! We most definately could not have done it without all of the nice people who helped us out. At the first place, there were 3 small buildings. In front of each there was a big grill looking thing where people were burning incense and praying. Inside each of the buildings was a huge golden statue of Buddha. Lots of people were in there praying. Very colorful and pretty inside. I was a bit disappointed however to not see any tye dye shirts and peace signs, or hear Janis Joplin blaring on the speakers. Guess they don’t do that sort of thing over here! Up about 100 more stairs to a huge, very pretty building. It had big doors all around it with a very decorative roof line. I walked up the steps to see what it was, and a very sweet Chinese lady opened the door. I don’t think this place was really open to the public, but she invited us to come in. There was a huge, gold picture of a lion above an altar with a really big golden Buddha off to the side. They told us that pictures were forbidden in here, and that the book of Buddha resides upstairs in that building. They said they were cleaning that temple in preparation of Buddha’s birthday at the end of the month. After chatting with them for a bit, they told us that we could take pictures and they would prepare the place for us to do so because they welcome American’s to learn about their culture. They were very kind. On the way back down the “mountain,” a group of 3 Chinese girls wanted to take their picture with Brayden and Brylie. They were very sweet. All 3 of them helped me carry Brayden down the stairs! I’m sure Brayden was loving that!!!
Our last stop was the Trestle. It is basically a long man-made pier with a temple-looking building at the end. It stretches out into the harbor. The farther we walked, the colder it got. Aphea and Kayla are used to 80 degrees year ’round. They were freezing!! All along the pier there were locals selling shells, jewlery, and other items made from coral and shells. Lots of people begging. That was sad. The view at the end was great. Lots of fishing boats and two battleships docked in the harbor. We definately got a lot of stares here! The place was packed like sardines, and Brayden was hollering, so we really didn’t fit in! HOWEVER, the second best thing of the day happened here! I got my wish! A guy was riding his bike by us, just staring like no other, and ran smack into another guy! It was the funniest thing I had ever seen! I though Aphea was going to lose it!! It’s all about Kharma!!
After 8 hours of touring, we had another interesting ride back home, but arrived in one piece! Our drivers were fantastic! Very helpful with all of the kids. They even helped find us a table at KFC! All of this for about $45 USD. You couldn’t rent a bicycle for that at home, and you dang sure wouldn’t get the service!! Therapy as usual on Monday and Tuesday and then another spinal on Wednesday. We are on the downhill slide! Thank you all for your support! We are really starting to get homesick, but your e-mails and comments help so much. Talk to you soon!
18 comments April 28th, 2008
