I have arrived. My Chinese experience is complete.

Yesterday was the day I can honestly say that my China experience came to a peak.

I got to use a squatty potty.

Wait...wait...it gets better...

I got to use a squatty potty with a baby attached to me. A screaming one, if you want to know the honest truth. (She dropped her spoons. On the bathroom floor. And if you know what a squatty potty is, you understand why I wouldn't give them back to her.)

Although not completely on purpose, I have managed to spend over a week in China without have to hover myself over what the Chinese call a potty and relieve myself.

And if it hadn't been for dire circumstances involving too much water and a 30 minute drive to the hotel, I might would have passed. Let's just say I could have gone the whole trip without that experience. Just as you could have gone without reading about it.

But we all know I tend to share too many details...

Ooops.

Yesterday we went to the Chen Clan Academy, also known as the Cantonese Folk Art Museum. If I understood our guide right, the people here actually worship their ancestors, so these huge buildings were built in honor of families and used as a place of worship. This particular temple was also used as a place of study, hence the "academy".



The amount of detail that goes into a place like this is almost unfathomable. Carvings and sculptures and paintings and decorative brickwork all work together to construct this temple. Hours upon hours of work. Like years and years of hours.










This dude has been dubbed as the Bob Ross of China. See those paintings? He does those completely with his hands...palms, fingertips and fingernails. No bush. In a word: amazing.




And while this looks like a painting, it's actually silk embroidery. Also ridiculous.




Carvings from bone and ivory. I'm not certain which this is since both of those things kinda look the same. But the detail is ridiculous. There are actually people and individual columns for all the different levels. I'm guessing these folks don't battle much with ADD because no way someone in America would have the patience for that.




I hope they have some good insurance on that place.

It really is beautiful.

And yes. It was still hot. Hanging out in front of a fan here. HOT.




After that we went to a huge multi-level mall type building. The entire building was jewelry! Unreal. Pearls and jade are a big deal around here, so that was the draw for some in our group.

And a picture of Ellie Kate. Just because she's super cute. Ignore the lady holding her.




And yes, the spoons have become a daily thing. I guess Christmas will be cheap this year as long as I can find take 'n toss plastic spoons. Honestly, it's just calming to her to have something in her hands. Without those, her antennas come up. And funny enough, her Daddy is the same way. Always fiddling with something in his hands.

Although if he starts playing with spoons too, I'm gonna need someone to come help me be the adult in our family.

Because I'm not really a full-fledge adult either.

Shhhh, don't tell our adoption agency...

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