Tourism at it's best and worst

Saturday was tourism day. i.e. take the Americans to all of the tourist traps and get them to spend their money! And spend our money we did...

First, there was a warm-up at the Forbidden City/Tiennamen Square. This is where the emporer lived, and where communism in China was born. It is quite a sight to see. Vast expanses of space in the public square (about 150 acres), followed by several "gates" that are entrances into new courtyards surrounded by huge traditional Chinese buildings.

After this, we went to a pearl "wholesale" store run by the government. We listened to a lecture bya pearl expert - who was there to explain to us that Chinese pearls are the best in the world, and his prices were the lowest in the world. The sales pitch wasn't all that great, but I did learn more about pearls than I knew before.

Next was a trip to a silk factory. Knowing how the textile market in the southeast US has fallen apart due to cheap labor in China, I was most interested to see this. Sure enough, everything was done by hand at the factory, and the silk quality was very high. It's hard to argue against low wages and attention to detail. CHina is simply better setup to produce things like this that are labor intensive. They actually "unwind" silkworm cocoons to produce their silk - with eight strands of cocoon silk wound together to form a single silk thread. We parted with too much money here...

Next, it was off to the Summer Palace. A very beautiful place, but surrounded by beggars and peddlers of every kind.

The most striking thing about this place is the spiritual darkness. They are very preoccupied with spiritual things, but reject the truth very aggressively. I sometimes think that this is the direction that the US is heading. The end of this path is human beings that are just shells - the outside is functional, but the inside is dead. Lord, I pray that You keep us from every going down this path to its conclusion.

The food here is great - a mix of spicy and mild, but all very tasty. Cindy had a bit of a hard time adjusting to the duck that was cooked with it's head still attached - but it tasted great!

Today is a worship day - light in the darkness. Tomorrow, if God wills, we will receive Hailee...