The City of Nanjing!

This post is mainly for the students at LVE! I wanted to show them a little of the city of Nanjing. As I mentioned before, Nanjing is considered the southern capital of China. It is a beautiful city. As you walk around you can imagine how gorgeous it will be in the spring when everything is in bloom. This city reminds me a little of home. There are sycamore trees that line the roads and form a canopy just like we have oak trees at home in Louisiana. The traffic is crazy here! The lanes are very small and the drivers just go from one to another whenever they want. There is also a big lane only for bikes and mopeds. There are lots and lots of people riding bikes always. I can't even imagine driving here! Today we visited the city gate. It was built for protection from intruders. It was very big and had lots of cavities that the soldiers used to hide during a war. We also visited a local market where people set out tents to sell goods and food. The food selection was quite interesting. In fact, Mr. Cade opted to stay in the bus because he would have lost his cookies for sure! He can't handle those "interresting" smells and sights. The rest of us loved it and got lost of attention from the locals. After that, we went to Confucious' temple. There is a big market surrounding the temple but it's more like a shopping center. This is where we found the McDonalds and introduced Miss W to french fries and chicken nuggets! Of course, she loved them!! Here are a bunch of pictures of the city. There is a picture of a gold tree. The Chinese people write their wishes on the red ribbons and throw them in the tree so they will have good fortune. They have lots of different symbols and traditions to give them good luck, fortune, health, etc. I am sure this is because they do not believe in God. Our family believes that God is the provider of our good health and fortune. We don't need to participate in rituals to try to make those things come to pass. I feel sorry for the people who feel that this is what they need to do. I can't wait for the boys to get home and be able to shared all their experiences with you. They have been having a great time and, unbeleivably, have have been getting along very well. They were told that they would need to rise to the challenge and that's exactly what they've done. I am very proud of them all. If you would like to email them some questions or comments, I know they would love it. They will answer you back! They can't wait to come back and show off their little sister!