What kind of temple? Buddhist, Taoist, Confucianist? No idea. Nor could I find it easily on the net. Anyway, originally it was maintained by a "benevolent merchants association", and, among other things, was used as their meeting hall. During Communist times, it became a communal residence, and about 700 families had to be relocated when it was reopened as a museum.
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Ring the bell for good luck. All the red booklets are
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| Our guide explained : the buildings on three levels, Qing dynasty, Mao dynasty, present dynasty. |
| The elevated pavilion is a theater scene. People would watch the show from the court below. |
| Another theater scene, this one for VIPs. They could sit in the hall around to enjoy the play. |
| Fancy furniture in the association's main meeting hall. |
| A tea house; people of various ranks meet – the one with the blue square and red hat is a minor mandarin. |
| An official meeting of the association. |
| The association distributes alms and medicine to the needy. |
| Tasty bamboo! Panda licks its chops. But, in fact, this is poor food for a carnivore, so the panda is rather bloated and lethargic. My kind of life: sit on my butt and munch all day. BTW, since it can crack big stems in its jaws, it is a dangerous animal: one zoo panda literally bit off the hand that fed it, although it has no reason to attack other animals, as it eats bamboo only. |
| With two pandas: the adult just turned belly up, and the baby is rolling on its own high deck. | |
After which the real adventures began. On the way to the airport, the car burst a tire. We called for help, and, while waiting, an empty bus passed by and picked us: the bus driver was a friend of our driver. So we got to the airport early, checked in and were left to our devices. We bought some very beautiful peaches (there were also cherries, but incredibly expensive) and ate some ultra hot noodles.
After which we went to security checks. Beloved wife passed, but the vigilant people's eye discovered that my passport says "Levi Ross Lustman" and the boarding pass "Levi Roos". So they sent me back to check in, and that clerk sent me to a second clerk, who sent me to a third clerk. Everybody in profound discussions with everybody else about what to do about my boarding pass. Finally, a young lady took me to security, first class, no queue. Some more discussions, finally a higher ranked officer (he had two stripes) passed me. Alas! it turns out I had some cosmetics in bottles in the hand luggage. I should have dumped them there and then, but with my usual presence of mind... Back to checkin, to send as baggage the hand bag with bottles. Now there is too much luggage to check, additional payment required. I, of course, had no money. Ex machina Osagyefo appears – beloved wife could wait no longer away from me. We pay at the cashier somewhere else, return to checkin for the sixth time (count them!), finally both pass security.
Inside, we relax and eat the longevity peaches. One really needs them to get by three thousand years of bureaucracy, with Communist toppings.
This was not, however, the end. They also changed our gate while we were waiting – seems standard procedure, happened at every flight in China. But it was understably announced in English; besides, I can read Beijing and Xian even in Chinese, and I saw the changes at the gate.