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In my quest to show Chelsea some actual Chinese culture in this baby city we took a bus to Chiwan Village, a small village in the Nanshan district. Cara, Kim, Miriam (sp?), and Sarah came with us because they, too, were interested to see some history in this McD's riddled metropolis. The village felt so much more Chinese than the part of the city I live in. And we reveled in the fact that it wasn't crowded. No one was shoving us, or running carts or strollers into us. It was quiet. People stared a little more, but more in a "What the?" sort of way rather than the leering I get in my part of town. Children giggled and followed us around. And, somewhat disturbingly, we watched a man walked down the street wearing nothing below the waist. He had on a shirt and a jacket, but not a stitch below. What was more disturbing is that we were the only ones who seemed to notice.

The only information I was able to put together for our day trip was the bus number of the bus that took us there and the names of some of the things we wanted to see. I couldn't, however, find anything resembling a map or locations of said places. Once we got to Chiwan, we had some time to wander. Sarah, who lives in Nanshan, had taken a different bus and was having technical difficulties. We bought some street food to munch on and strolled around to see if we could find any of the landmarks on my list. Miraculously, we found an American who lives there and he was able to point us in the right direction.

We went to the Tianhou Temple first.

"The temple sits beside Chiwan Village at the foot of the beautiful Xiaonanshan Hill, in Nanshan District. First built in the Song Dynasty about 800 years ago, it is the largest temple dedicated to the worship of Tianhou (Heavenly Queen) in Guangdong Province, enjoying a fame in Hong Kong, Macau and even Southeast Asia." --(http://www.shenzhenparty.com/content/historical_sites_shenzhen)

I don't know about the fame and such, but it was very beautiful. It was a little more expensive to get in than I thought it would be (Y15), but it was wonderfully peaceful and quiet. The whole complex of buildings seemed very well appointed. Nothing felt out of place. There were a few people there to worship, but it wasn't crowded. We meandered around the perimeter buildings for a bit before entering the central area where the actual temple stood. There were smaller shrines, a sort of museum, a pond, and a sculpture garden. The temple itself appeared to be under renovation. The interior was a little disheveled, but still very impressive. After we had sufficiently absorbed the ambiance of the temple complex we left in search of the tomb of the last emperor of the Song Dynasty...

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