Houhai Lake, Bell and Drum Towers, Lama Temple

Woke up this morning and it was no longer raining!! Now off to explore more typical tourist attractions, Houhai Lake,  and the Drum and Bell towers. 

After getting off of the subway and walking in the wrong direction for awhile (the tourist maps were not actually all that helpful with accuracy), we discovered we were actually really close to the lake the whole time. At one point I asked where we were and dad answered with "Look at a map...it won't tell us anything." This is what I started calling a 'daddyism'. But doing some research I came across this little quote that shows we were not the only ones. "Houhai seems to be a veritable well-known secret as it can sometimes be hard to find, it is tucked in behind the alley ways and busy streets of the main city." 

It was a very peaceful afternoon. Quiet, away from the city, and beautiful.

  I even made friends and played with the locals. They loved my water bottle. 

Stumbled across a wedding.

And loved the little unique aspects of the lake.

After the lake we needed to rush back to the drum tower as there was a drum show that we were trying to get to. We rushed up the extremely steep and long flight of stairs and caught the tail end of the show.

The Drum Tower
"Originally, there was one big drum and 24 smaller ones, but only the big remains. The method of beating it is to beat it quickly for 18 times and then slowly for 18 times. Altogether there are three rounds and 108 tollings. People knock the bell and the drum 108 times, because 108 times represent one year in ancient times." http://www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/beijing/bell.htm

 The Bell Tower
The bell is made of copper and is the heaviest in China. I found the Legend of the Bell-Casting Goddess extremely interesting. I love different cultures and ancient stories of how things came to be. 

The Bell and Drum towers were originally used as musical instruments but were later used as time instruments to help those to work and live that had no other way to keep track of the time. At the time of their construction they were the largest and highest towers.





 
Upon leaving the towers we walked past the Lama Temple and decided to check it out. It was much larger than it looked from the outside. Here is where another 'daddyism' comes in. We almost did not go in but then his response was, "I paid $1700 to get to China...I might as well see a temple." 

The Lama Temple is also known as the Palace of Peace and Harmony Lama Temple or Yonghegong Lamasery. Within the walls are five large halls and five courtyards. It also includes a treasury of Buddhist art, with sculptured images of gods, demons and Buddhas. It is also home to the largest Buddha ever built. It even made it into the Guinness Book of World Records.

  Along the outside perimeter were many vendors selling incense so that you may pray to Buddha.

 Although we have already done so much today I am still not finished. To end the day we went went to an acrobat show. It was awesome and I thoroughly enjoyed myself, but there were no pictures allowed once the show started.

Last night in China! Fly home tomorrow!