Seen on the Street

We found the name of this Yangshuo cafe rather unusual...

Moganshan

Last weekend we spent a couple of nights on Moganshan mountain with some of our church small group friends. It's a lovely wooded area, and we enjoyed several hikes through the bamboo forest.

Heading up into the bamboo!
It was a bit of a rainy weekend... I love this misty shot Scott got of Madelyn.

Part of our crew of kids!
We had never seen tea growing before. I was intrigued by how it seems to be so neatly trimmed into hedges. The ladies you see out in the fields are picking the tea, just the new growth off the top.
I am reading a book about the Moganshan area right now, it's quite fascinating. It was a retreat from the summer heat and disease of Shanghai about a hundred years ago, for both foreigners, including missionaries, and wealthy Chinese. The area came to be a thriving summer resort. When the Communist party took over in 1949, of course all the foreigners were forced to leave and many of the homes fell into disrepair. We saw some of these places as we hiked, and also came across several church buildings like this one below. This one was completely stripped inside, just the shell of the once lovely building remains. I am anxious to learn more about what happened in Moganshan. Why has this church been left in this state? I know things are not always what they seem here...


There seems to be an aura of mystery about this place... I hope we can return and discover more about it. If nothing else, it's a beautiful retreat from the city... just like it was a century ago.

Doors

I'm not sure what it is about doors that are so intriguing to me. I suppose its the fact that there is something behind them, something often left to my imagination. A window to the soul of a family, perhaps? I took this group of door pictures while we were in Yangshuo a couple of weeks ago, many of them on the hike we took through the karsts, ending in the small, ancient town of Xingping. Some of them are doors we encountered on the occasional farm houses that were tucked away in the wilderness, others were in Xingping itself.
I am always amazed at how Mao is still revered here in China, despite his sordid record as a leader of the country. His portrait is prominently displayed inside this home in Xingping. Bonus when a door is open and I can actually peek inside!



Notice all the red couplets on and above the doors. These are traditional Chinese New Year decorations, wishing good luck, happiness, health and prosperity to the occupants. I think think these decorations stay up throughout the year, weathering as the year progresses, until they are replaced with fresh ones for the following lunar new year celebration. Even the stable below is decorated!

This is the front door of The Giggling Tree, the guesthouse where we stayed outside of Yangshuo. See Gwen standing in front of it?! This door opened into a courtyard where meals are served from the guesthouse kitchen in good weather. Our family and Justin and Mary enjoyed several lovely evenings around a table in the courtyard behind these doors!

We all loved the site of this pup peeking out of the opening in the wall beside this door we spotted on our bike ride. We saw these same openings next to many farmhouse doors... anyone have an idea what they're for, besides a lookout for dogs?

Big Brothers, Little Sibs

Caleb and Gwen, Austin and Jason

Last weekend a number of the families in our church small group spent a couple of nights in a beautiful, remote area a few hours south of Shanghai called Moganshan. It is heavily wooded with bamboo, and there are also many tea fields. It was a misty, rainy weekend, but we enjoyed hiking through the hills all around us.

Caleb and his friend Austin did a bit of toting of their little sibs on our hikes, although Gwen loves to be in the lead and often ran ahead of our whole group of 20+ people, leading us all on our strenuous up-and-downhill treks. :-)

Check Him Out!

Several months ago, Seth quietly filled out an application for membership in the National Junior Honor Society at Concordia. I knew vaguely what he was doing, but he did it all on his own. Fast forward to last night... Seth was inducted into NJHS, along with 15 other seventh graders, for their high achievement in academics, leadership and service to others. Where did this boy come from? He continues to amaze us! :-)

Strength

As I watched Madelyn tackle these karsts in Yangshuo and find herself so daring and courageous, I was overflowing with thanks to the Lord for what He has done in her life.

"I lift up my eyes to the hills- where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip, He who watches over you will not slumber." Psalm 121: 1, 2

M & J Faces

This post is a collection of fun face pictures from all of Justin and Mary's visit with us. Some of the photos were taken in Shanghai, some in Yangshuo.

Our street food taste-testing day!
In front of the 500+ year old tea house in Yuyuan, in Shanghai.

Enjoying the fruit of their labors at cooking school in Yangshuo.
Guys at the Bund, on the Huangpu River in Shanghai.


Lunch at a local place in Jinqiao that Mr Wu took us to for blood soup.

Ready to tackle climbing a karst in Yangshuo!


Riding the motorbike Uncle Justin borrowed from a local farmer in Yangshuo.
Wielding their cleavers, ready to chop anything at cooking school!
Get that black eye from fighting the pirate next to you, Justin?

Our faces were smiling as long as M & J were here with us!