We saw the Pavilion of Prince Teng which was beautiful!! I am going to give you a little history of this building (and so I can remember everything later too!!) It was first built in 653 AD, by Li Yuanying the younger brother of Emporer Taizong of Tang and uncle of Emperor Gaozong of Tang. It is on the East Bank of Gan River. This pavilion is one of four great towers in Ch*na. Li Yuanying was enfeoffed as Prince Teng in 639 and spent his early years in Suzjou. In 652 he was assigned the governorship of Nanchang where the pavilion served as his townhouse. Twenty years later, the building was rebuilt by the new governor. Upon its completion, a group of local artists gathered to compose prose and poetry about the building. The most famous poetry is the Preface to the Pavilion of Prince Teng by Wang Bo. This is the poem that made the Pavilion of Prince Teng a household name in China down to the present day. The Pavilion was to be destroyed and rebuilt a total of 29 times over the next centuries. The building itself changed shape and function many times. The penultimate construction was in the Tongzhi era of the Qing Dynasty. That building was destroyed in October 1926 during the chaotic warlords era.
Currently the pavilion the most recent Pavilion was 8 October 1989, and is now a landmark Nanchang. The building has been made of reinforced concrete structure but decorated in faux-Song Dynasty style. It is 57.5 metres tall and has nine stories. The building has a total floor area of 13000 square metres. The building sits atop 12-metre tall concrete platform, which is intended to symbolise the now-destroyed ancient city wall. A stainless steel tablet at the entrance is engraved with a calligraphy work of Mao Zedong.
The building mainly serves tourism purposes. Apart from internal decoration, attractions include a theatre staging simulated period musical performances, and displays of reconstructed ancient instruments. There are some restaurants and souvenir shops. The streets around the pavilion have been designed to conform with its style. This area has become the centre of Nanchang's antiques trade.
The Pavilion of Prince Teng achieved national fame through the Preface to the Pavilion of Prince Teng. As a result, it was endowed by later generations with almost legendary status as an example of magnificent architecture. When the Forbidden City was built, its corner towers were built to imitate the Pavilion of Prince Teng and the Yellow Crane Pavilion as depicted in Song Dynasty paintings. (Strangely, both pavilions are depicted identically in surviving paintings.) These uniquely structured corner towers remain some of the most valued architectural treasures of the Forbidden City
(taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tengwang_Pavilion)
We had a really nice time going and seeing the Pavilion today. We saw the musical performance which was really neat---Ch*nese Fan Dancing, Singing and People playing Ch*nese instruments. The girls would have loved it!!!! Many people were there today admiring our daughter. There were a few people that stopped and asked our guide some information and they looked at us and smiled. They gave us a thumbs up and told our guide to tell us that Piper is really lucky. At times it is hard to really know what people think about us adopting one of their children. Lets face it lots of people stare at us. Pipers special need is more obvious than some of the other children. I cannot tell what they are saying but they will point to their lip and stare. Today most people were smiling and very positive.
We walked around the pavilion and we were able to find little trinkets to bring back for Piper and our girls. We were really glad that we went.
The breakfast buffet at our hotel
After the Pavilion, we needed to go to the grocery store to get more cereal for Piper's bottles. She is currently drinking 3 bottles a day with formula and rice cereal mixed together. I was running low so our guide took us to the grocery store. Our guide needed to get some things for our dinner tonight too. What an experience. It is a big building with lots of stores within one building. You take the ramp up each floor to where you want to go. The shopping cart goes on the ramp which is inclined. When you push the cart onto the ramp, the wheels stop on the ramp while it is moving. The wheels and ramp are magnetic. A really neat feature so no one gets hurt. Jon had a blast going around and checking everything out. He took lots of pictures. I on the other hand went in and got what we needed. I had to hunt him down when it was time to go. That definitely does not happen here at home. I will let the pictures do the talking here.
Pipers first time in a shopping cart
Remember, this is not a pet store. It is a grocery store......
Tonight our guide invited us over to her home to have dinner. She was going to cook us dinner and then we were going to meet her husband and her daughter. We were really excited to go and really excited to see her home and of course meet her family. The food she made was DELICIOUS!!!! After being with us for the week she knew exactly what we liked. She was so sweet. I am really going to miss her!!!! She made our week absolutely amazing. This is something we will always take with us. She showed and taught us so much!!! After dinner we went back to see the Light Show. This is a show that is seen by thousands every night!! Our guide told us that approximately 10,000 gather each night to see the show. There is music playing and the water/light show is happening at the same time. It was so neat to watch. It was absolutely amazing.
At our guides home. This is the courtyard for the apartment where she lives.
This is the outside of her apartment. Lots of people gather here daily.
Dinner!!!
Lots of kids and adults were riding on these after the light show.
I think you had a wonderful time there , I wish I could be there too. Your pictures are just splendid . I really like your pictures and they are shot perfectly. I like the baby in picture and he is very cute . Keep on posting more and I appreciate your blog writing.
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