july 15 - temple and SHOPPING for Pearls!

July 15th Buddhist temple and pearl shopping!
Today we went to the Buddhist temple. It was amazing to see the temple and all of shrines. We watched the Chinese people worships. their gods and it was interesting to see the culture and religion of these wonderful people. Our guide did tell us that many Chinese people are not very religious - and that religion has become a more social event, that Buddhism is more of a philosophy of living than a religious conviction. It was so hot and poor Sophie is not used to this Guangzhou heat - Kunming is about the temperature at home, so we miss it greatly. We spend much more time in our room than we did in Kunming - we hope to maybe swim today!
The pearl factory was amazing! We were able to handpick pearls and watch them be strung on a necklace. We purchased pearls for the girls, for their wedding day. The pearls here are about 100.00 us for really great quality and they are worth over $1000.00 in the US. They are lovely and the market was a cultural experience in itself.