Thursday in Shijiazhuang - part 1

Amy was to meet us at 10:00 this morning but called around 9:30 to say that Karys’ passport was not quite ready.

“No problems.”, she assured us. “Just taking a little longer than expected.”

At 11:15, our room’s doorbell rang and Amy was standing in the hall with passport in hand. We can bring Karys home!

Since we were slightly delayed in getting started, we went ahead and drove to Zhengding for lunch before heading for Longxing Temple.

Here was a huge jade carving in the lobby of the restaurant where we ate.

This is a main entrance to the Longxing Temple compound. We were not permitted to take photographs inside any of the buildings. A lot of Asian tourists were taking photos, though. I wanted to tattle.

Before we started in, a monk came out. Amy told us that monks still reside there.

Once inside, we found the temple compound to be a very peaceful and serene place.

This is an area where incense is burned.

We weren’t sure if this was permissable or not but opted to let Eliana straddle a dragon’s child.

At this small stand, you can buy a strip of red ribbon on which to write your name.

You then place your ribbon on this “Good Wishes” tree to realize your greatest desires.

The Longxing Temple, known as the No. l Temple to the South of Beijing, is famous for the tallest copper Buddha in China. The Temple was built in 586 and covers an area of 82,000 square meters.

This tree is one of several that are 800 years old.

Amy loves Karys (and Eliana) to death.

This journal offers a peek inside the Henderson home where you'll find two Little Empresses. Eliana stole our hearts on October 29, 2002 and Karys forever became a part of our family on September 17, 2007. Is a Little Emperor in the future?