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Published: April 10th 2016
Goose Pagoda
Built 652 ADSaturday morning dawned bright and early, 7AM. Actually not bad, we have seen 6:30 wake up calls earlier this week. The weather was perfect, clear, dry, and pleasant temperature of 72 degrees. We hit the bus around 8 AM for our short drive to the Buddhist temple known as the Goose Pagoda. Breakfast was another extravaganza. J
The name, Goose Pagoda, comes from a Tibetan legend. There were two sects of monks. One ate no meat, one ate meat. One day, the group that ate meat had no meat to eat. One of the monks lamented to the Great Buddha, asking why they had no meat to eat. He implored the Buddha to help them out of this terrible trouble. At that very instant, a flock of geese were flying by and the lead Goose fell dead at the foot of the complaining monk. In shock, that he angered the Great Buddha, they erected a Pagoda over the exact spot where the goose died hoping to provide a form a of appeasement to an angry Buddah. Soon the monks gave up eating meat! Our temple Pagoda was an exact replica of the one built in Tibet, hence it
Goose Pagoda
One of the many forms of Buddha has the same name.
The area is a beautiful parkside setting with beautiful manicured lawn, trees and many fragrant flowers. It was just wonderful to just walking through the park. We entered the sacred temples and were treated to an amazing view of the statues of the various Buddhas.
It seems that the Buddhists believe that anyone that tries hard enough, can reach enlightenment. It is not an easy road, but with hard work, sacrifice, prayer and more sacrifice, it can be done. I am afraid not on my bucket list.
In the first courtyard of the temple, practicing Buddhists come to this very day to pray, light incense and leave a donation. As we entered the courtyard, we saw a large incense burner before the door to the temple proper. Here we were treated to the fragrance of newly lit incense. The Buddhists believe that we, as a people, can't reach heaven, so to capture the attention of the Buddha, they use the smoke from the incense which rises to the heaven on our behalf. A good approach for a mortal. Of course I bought some blessed incense.
Goose Pagoda
Ceremonial Drum In the temple we could see various statues of the many incarnations of the Buddha. There was the Great Buddha, the Happy Buddha, the Buddahs of Peace, Wealth, Health and so on and so forth. Each was huge, made of gold plate and hand painted. They were beautiful.
Along the side side of the temple proper, there were buildings that contained other gods and various items needed for major ceremonies. All were beautiful.
From the temple area, we went to the area where each of the head monks were buried. Over some graves was a simple stone, similar to what we see in our cemeteries. Other monks were honored by having Stupa built over their mortal remains. It was quite peaceful. Here we also saw some monks in robes walking the grounds.
We were now given some time for shopping in the gift shop. Again your ability to bargain determined your purchase price. I am considered by some in the group, a good negotiator, so I helped some others especially, Ricky and Mike aquire some new baubbles.
My daughter in law, Lily, will soon own a hand
Goose Pagoda
Buddha of Wealth made silk scarf depicting the bird of happiness. Ricky bought some trinkets for his neighbors while Mike and Dick parted ways with a few Yuan.
After shopping, it was time for ice cream. I was joined in my daily ritual by quite a few folks. It was hot and the treat was indeed cooling. From here we headed back to the bus for a short ride to a Chinese Muslim Mosque.
This was not like any Muslim Mosque I have ever seen. This was designed in the typical Chinese style. You entered a gate into a courtyard. As you went closer to the prayer building you passed through additional courtyards and gates until you entered close to the prayer area.
This area is closed to women all the time, and closed to non Muslim males, so of course we could not enter. The prayer area is very similar to all Mosques in the details or elsewhere. The rooms faced Mecca, there was a place for the Iman and prayer rugs on the floor in preparation for the next call to prayer.
One our way to the Mosque, we
Goose Pagoda
Active Monks passed through a very lively market filled with every form of strange foods, spices and thousands of things to buy. I was in paradise.
Rick and I headed off to shop, and soon found ourselfs looking at some very beautiful hand made silk table runners. My wife always liked table runners so, once again, with Rick's help, my wife is now in possession of a beautiful table runner. You will love it honey, it is black red and gold and just perfect for the table.
Mike and Brunnele (alias Joanie) were looking at some silk scarves, so I helped a little on the negotiation. All had a good time and enjoyed their purchase.
Rick and I were on a mission to find some more of the Chinese Zodiac signs for he and I (Snake) Chris (also snake) and Alla and Lily. It took some time, but after a few missed opportunities, we scored the required art work. Rick also scored a small jade (sort of jade) dog for a friend, as well as some other items we needed to have as gifts. The bag I purchased yesterday to carry all my
Goose Pagoda
Happy Buddha loot was now really heavy. Dick wanted to add some of his larger items, so now I may be in the market for another bag!
We continued our walk through the market and came upon the food stalls. Singing the mantra "No street food" over and over again, I passed on the opportunity to taste, fried star fish, fried octopus, tofu pizza, and a whole host of unidentifiable bits and pieces of odds and ends that looked really delicious. It was tough, but I made it through without getting poisioned.
After the street market we again hit the bus for a short drive to lunch. Today, being our last day in Xian, we had already packed our belongings on the bus, for after lunch we were heading to the airport for the short afternoon flight to Changdu.
We were advised to eat a very hearty lunch because tonight there was no included dinner as we expected to get to Changdu after 8 PM.
We didn't need to be told twice to eat up, so we made sure they're was noting left on any of the 10 plates placed
Street Food
I passed on this one before us. We dined on a wide variety of meats with various flavors, vegetables steamed to perfection, rice and of course, beer.
This morning Brunnell (Joanie) and her husband Dermot (really great folks) almost met with disaster. After breakfast we had already board the bus for our day of touring when Jo, our guide asked "does everyone have their passport?" No one responded so we began to drive out, when suddenly, out of the middle of the bus came the anguished cry "Wait, I forgot my passport and all my money!'' Dermot, bless his heart, blamed it all on Joanie, who left the bus and trekked back to the room to retrieve her valuables. Again very important note to travelers, make sure you keep your passport and your money close. With either, the trip can turn to disaster.
After another fine lunch we headed to the bus for the final ride to the airport and our 4:40 flight to Changdu. We quickly passed security only to find our flight was delayed for at least and hour. So we set our belongings down and began to explore the airport.
I quickly discovered
some airport delicacies. First was a bag of "hand pulled donkey meat." Next came "dried rabbit." My all time favorite, however was the "hand pulled white yak meat." I didn't try any, as it was expensive, but I am told it can be had at much lower cost in the city. I will have to keep my eyes open for this taste treat.
Our flight finally took off art 5:30 and we soon arrived in Changdu. Another beautiful and colorful city drive to our hotel. It was misting this evening, so Rick and I decided to stay in the hotel for a small bite before heading off to a much needed rest.
We found the restaurant on the second floor, it looked real fancy. We assumed that this was not the place for a small bite. The waiter greeted us, and I told him we only wanted a small bite like a sandwich. He assured us, in very practiced English, that this was the place to eat. We followed him to a table set for four and he handed us a menu. Sure enough, there were hamburgers, hotdogs, club sandwichs and other small choices.
Street Food
What is That? We ordered the club sandwich and fries deciding to split the meal. We also ordered a second plate of fries because they were so good and we really missed them!
Soon I spotted two friends Alfonso and his bride of 18 years Patty. They are from Peru and just super nice people. He is a tall, dark, and handsome financier, and she a winsome mother of three. They were educated in Indiana where they earned their MBA's. Amazing small world.
While we all dined on a small dinner, we enjoyed a very stimulating conversation on many subjects. The humor of American politics, the raising of children (they have 3 girls and one son), the benefits (or lack thereof )for tattoos and piercings and on and on each subject more eclectic than the previous. A truly great time.
Soon it was late and time for bed. I am sorry that I did not publish the blog last night but I was beat, so I tried to get it done today while on tour. Also some folks asked me about my book. It is titled GRAVESEND and is available from Amazon.com. Please feel
Chinese Mosque
Most unusual Mosque in the world. Built like a Chinese Pagoda free to buy a copy today!
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