Day 1 and Day 2
Without doubt, the first day of our tour was spent in the train from Hong Kong to Guangzhou. I was really impressed with the quality of the guide, Miss.li Ping. She always ready to help us and was there to meet our needs even when the schedule changed. She took us to the Hongfan Hotel Guangzhou after we arrived. We were told that the first day we could free arrange our time. Guangzhou is a fast-moving metropolis and sometimes we need to get under it’s skin. The next day, we visited Chen's Family Temple. Chen Ancestral Shrine is a cultural relic and an important site built during the reign of Guangxu Emperor with donations collected from Chen family members living in 72 counties in the Guangdong Province. It is also known as Chen Clan Academy, located at the Zhongshan Road. Miss Li Ping told us that the legend that during the late Qing Dynasty, a man called Chen stood third in the most important imperial examination. This provided him with a very distinguished office title, making the Chen family very well known in the area. Later someone suggested that all family members should raise money for building a temple for sacrificing to their ancestors as well as encouraging their children to study hard. We had no way to examine this legend but we were impressed by the legend. I couldn’t help thinking of the policy that scholars were well respected in the feudal society.
Later we walked along Shangxiajiu Pedestrain Street before lunch. The street was crowded with many shops and people, walking on the street, we were overwhelmed with a strong historical and traditional sense. That was the old lifestyle of old Guangzhou.
Day 3 and day 4
I was some kind of tired with the flight, because of I had to spent a whole day or half day to get some rest to recover. We flied to Lhasa for the third day. Even though I was eager to visit some places, but the other members of our team were so tired after the flight, and were anxious to have a rest. Thus, we stayed in the hotel to have a rest. The next day, we finally saw Potala Palace. Everyone who went to Lhasa would certainly visit Potala Palace because Potala Palace is a mark building of Lhasa and a huge treasure house of ancient materials and articles of Tibetan history, religion, culture, and arts. We got to the famous Jokhang Temple. The temple was built with Princess Wencheng’s suggestion in Tang Dynasty and constructed by Songsten Gampo. Princess Wencheng was a great woman who had contributed to the peaceful of Tang Dynasty and Lhasa. She brought with her a 12 year old, life-sized statue of Sakyamuni to Lhasa. We had lunch in a Tibetan-style restaurant in the afternoon. We bought Tibetan carpet, butter sculptures in Barkhor Street.
Day 5 and day 6
We were curious about how the monks live, so we visited someplace named “Drepung Monastery”, where used to be home of Dalai Lamas. Walking along the west stairs of Drepung Monastery, we found a 3-storied palace with flowered windows, which indicated the famous Ganden Potrang. Later, we went to Norbuilgka, the summer palace of the Tibet. The schedule of our tour was not include visiting the Tibetan family, but we were so curious about the life of Tibetan people, so our guide changed her mind and took us to knock a Tibetan’s door.
We left Lhasa for the next day. I didn’t want to leave but I had to, for I didn’t have a life there. Before I left, I looked at the blue sky and as far as I could see. I wanted to remember everything I saw and everyone I met. The flight took us home, but my heart still in Lhasa. Time can take away our age, but can’t take away memories that is deep in our mind.
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