Shenzhen Temple

I woke up in Shenzhen and was greeted with the reality of censorship. Due to regulations in China, certain websites are not allowed including Google. When I discovered I couldn’t get use google or google maps to plan my day I felt... bullied? Mr. Jang had offered April the morning off to take me shopping but I wanted to relax and get my bearings on Shenzhen independently. Without the internet, I felt as though I no longer had a choice in the matter. This marked the biggest cultural shift for an American, the need for independence to do whatever I pleased and the denial of that need. Fortunately Joseph swooped in and got me temporary internet access through an illegal program that shields your internet trail. I was able to get the information I needed just before my internet disconnected. Though Shenzhen was a modern shopping and electronics Mecca I had found a historic temple to tour.

After enjoying the elaborate breakfast buffet at the hotel Joseph was picked up for work and I hit the gym.

This flyer is from a different hotel, but these rules apply to all of China.

Joseph texted me mid morning to tell me that the bosses really wanted me to have a companion. I didn't want to be rude, so I agreed. April arrived at the hotel via taxi to escort me to company headquarters. Mr. Jang, Mr. Chen, Roc, and Joseph informed me we were going to lunch and we promptly departed the office, made our way through hallways and tunnels to arrive in the kitchen of a Chinese restaurant. We exited the kitchen to the dining room, shuffled through the buffet line, quickly ate and then walked back to the office. Mr. Jang, Roc, and Joseph had a factory visit planned and I was informed that a woman also named Jessica would be hanging out with me for the afternoon. Jessica needed to work another hour and Joseph and Mr. Jang And Roc departed to visit a factory so I waited in Mr Chen's office while the other men went to the factory. Mr. Chen didn't speak English but we were able to pick out a tea and using his elaborate hot plate he brewed me a fresh pot, filled up my cup and then went back to his desk to continue working. I felt a bit like sitting in my dad's office as a little girl while he got some work done.

Mr. Chen's office tea table

Before long Jessica bounced into the office and announced that while her English was not great we could use the phone translate when needed. I had first learned about this Jessica last night when Mr. Jang explained through an interpreter that there was another Jessica in the office and then when he was booking Joseph and I plane tickets for our visit north he couldn't figure out which of my names was my first name and which was my last name until he thought about Jessica from the office.

Jessica asked me what I wanted to do and I showed her the words "Tianhou Temple" and an address on a piece of paper. Neither she nor anyone in the office had heard of it. Doubly confusing was the fact that I didn't want to go shopping. Jessica decided the best way to get to the temple would be by cab so we went downstairs to hail one. She approached several taxis before she found one willing to take us. Apparently the drivers did not know where it was or it was to out of the way. One driver was in the middle of devouring a whole fish in his cab and Jessica explained he could not part from his lunch. I had thought that I could have grabbed a cab on my own for this adventure so at this point I was glad they had insisted on a guide.

Half an hour later we were dropped off in what felt like the middle of nowhere with a huge wall on one side of the road and skyscrapers actively being built on the other. On par with Chinese hosting Jessica had insisted on paying for the cab and our entry into the temple and had even packed a water for me to drink. The ticket collectors spoke no English so I was again grateful to have Chinese Jessica along.

We slowly meandered through the temple grounds. It was more of a compound than a single building. We saw some maintenance workers, some incense burners and maybe two other tourists.

There were four of these scary giants

Each giant was stepping on a victim

We were able to climb up into this drum tower

Jessica in the drum tower

The main temple building

Incense burning hut

A wishing tree

Inside the main temple

Our time in the temple was mostly silent as it had that definitive church/temple feel to it. At one point as we stood gazing at a pool of turtles I asked Jessica if she was enjoying herself. This was after all 100% my idea. "Uh, yeah!" she said as though I had asked her if she liked breathing air. She then explained that it was nice to be in such a peaceful environment away from all the hubbub of Shenzhen. When we had our fill of the temple we exited and she asked the temple keepers for the best way to get back to downtown Shenzhen. They told us that there was a subway stop about 3/4 of a mile away. Well they told her, and she told me by pointing in the distance and saying "subway stop". Outside of the serene temple we had a chance to talk and get to know each other. Like most people I met in China Jessica had one child. I asked her if she wanted more and she said "one keeps the grandparents happy". I laughed. I had also heard this before.

"You are housewife?" she asked. I laughed and told her that I was a nursing instructor and wondered what people here thought of me. It was clear they thought that I wanted to shop. Was this because Chinese women liked to shop or because they assumed American women did? Unfortunately the language barrier prevented me from solving this puzzle with Jessica.

After getting just a little bit lost we found the subway stop and made our way to Huasong Bai where we were to meet up with Joseph and Roc because Joseph wanted to get in a little more shopping. Once we arrived I told Jessica that she could leave me and that I would locate Joseph and Roc but she refused to leave until we met up with them. This too was a mystery. Did she worry I would be unsafe or would it be considered rude to leave the American tourist despite my protestations that I would be o.k.? After all, as Joseph and I talked about later with Roc, China is a very safe country. There are no guns, little crime, and harsh penalties for those who do commit crimes. In China the unequivocal punishment for murder is death.

After meeting up with Roc and Joseph Jessica went home to have dinner with her son and husband. I told Joseph and Roc to have fun shopping and went off on my own for a little while. I discovered I was a bit famished so I found a little dessert shop and ordered some crazy mango dessert.

Mango Romance?? Count me in!

Or jumbo mango party? Hard to decide.

Once Joseph had satiated his desire to shop he Roc and I decided on a chain noodle restaurant that roughly translated to "Uncle's Joseph's Noodles'. We soon discovered it was one of Roc's favorite restaurants and that his favorite dish here amounted to ziti and sauce. The ziti were made of buckwheat and the dish was pretty good. I've had far worse sauce at American restaurants claiming to offer Italian cuisine.