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Published: October 14th 2016
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Cute Sign
Shame it was raining. My first exploration into my new city. Tiangong Farmstead was about a half hour's drive from where I live. I think it would have been quicker if the bus driver hadn't got lost and took us to another farmstead first. The first place we visited was a square surrounded by workshops. The buildings are all in the traditional Chinese style, they looked so pretty. We wandered through the various workshops, looking at what the artisans had produced. There were lots of gorgeous carvings and lanterns among other things. This place must run art classes as in front of the workshop/shops were lots of kid sitting on little stools sketching and painting. It was an adorable sight to see.
After wandering the shops, we decided to head out and see more of the farmstead. While there had been other people in the gallery/workshop area, out here it was only our group. There was a long corridor in the traditional style with a roof, thankfully to save us from the rain. It ran along side a stream. It looked a little gloomy because of the dark skies and rain. There was a little pagoda in the middle with a man fishing from
it. We continued along to the end of the path. There were a few yellowy/orange walls and entrance ways. Me being nosy decided I had to have a look inside. I got a nice surprise, there was a statue of Buddha inside. Further along, we found a bigger temple. It is ages since I'd been in a Chinese style temple, I think the last time was in Taipei and that was a few years ago. It had the same four guardians guarding the entrance way as Korean temples do. The temple was low-key and pretty. It seemed to be enclosed in a smaller space than Korean temples, so the different rooms were packed tighter together. I loved the red candles that were burning, very pretty. We had a look around the main hall and then headed to the back of the temple. Here, there was a beautiful stone carving telling the story of Buddha. I wished that I read Chinese to read the words that accompanied the pictures. I think this temple had a little restaurant, too, unless it was just the dining hall for the monks.
For lunch we were ushered round to a restaurant near the entrance.
It was raining really heavily now. I definitely got wet on my way to the restaurant. We were served a variety of dishes. We got veggies dishes, fish and meats. along with a big bowl of rice. There was a lot of food, we got a dish for each person at the table and an extra one (for luck?), and someone explained that that is a Chinese tradition. I have to say although the food was plentiful, it didn't taste too great. I ate a lot but only because I was starving. I needed a caffeine boost after lunch, so we headed, through the relentless rain, to the coffee shop at the entrance, for a cuppa before leaving.
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