I know I have plenty of entries to write as I have left my wonderful European summer unrecorded for more than 6 months now but it seems I really have less time than I wish. Nevertheless I travelled a bit when I was in Mainland China visiting my relatives for Chinese New Year. We went to Sanshui District 三水 of Foshan City 佛山 in Guangdong province. Luckily I had 8 films left in my Fuji 210 so here they are:
11 Feb 2016 2:00 PM
Benhuan Temple
Entrance to the temple. In the middle is a Ding 鼎 of three levels and only used in ceremonies or festivals.
11 Feb 2016 2:00 PM
Benhuan Temple
Me with the Ding. I find it better not to smile too brightly.
11 Feb 2016 2:00 PM
Sandalwood
Burning incense is a Buddhist/ Chinese ritual when we worship the Buddha or any god. The fragrance it produces help individuals to calm and reach a spiritual level of connection with nature.
11 Feb 2016 2:00 PM
Sandalwood
And also sending our messages to the god we worship, sort of. 
11 Feb 2016 2:00 PM
The Tree of Wishes
For some reason we hang these red little ribbons onto branches of the very old and huge tree. As I see it is also a way of making money for the temple but we all know this is how superstitions work anyways. 
11 Feb 2016 2:00 PM
The Forest Undiscovered
Beyond the steps is a forest left undiscovered by me. I believe as I walk up the steps I would be able to reach a nice position to obtain a good view of the sleeping Buddha below:
11 Feb 2016 2:00 PM
The Sleeping Buddha
This sleeping Buddha is the biggest in China and even the world. When I sent the photo to Samuli, who loves to sleep and is a self-proclaimed koala, he asked if I visited the Buddha and I said “Yes. I took the photo. I didn’t google the image and send it to you.”
It is calming and relaxing to look at it more closely for a longer period of time but there were too many people and the temple was noisy. I thought it is probably not that meaningful to capture the sleeping Buddha with an instant camera because it stays still anyways, but now I think it is still worth it because this photo also captured my other sensations, though not so peaceful as they were supposed to be.
I wish I had more film in my camera because I took it with me just in case. Fortunately the day was beautiful in the temple and the images weren’t too bad. Anyhow, this is a short entry for a short day. I like the fact that I travelled in Chinese New Year. I haven’t been travelling for a while but soon I will. 🙂
