Temple Fair

(1.人山人海 = people mountain people sea = a lot of people.)
(2. Sugar coated fruit skewers.)
(3. Famous Lamb skewers. Loaded with MSG. Addictive.)


(Vases)

Some of the sites at the Temple Fair. Though these festivals used to have spiritual purposes, most now are basically carnivals. Think a county fair, but with no rides or games, just lots and lots of people walking around, buying things and having a good time. The city is still on vacation.








Today I also visited a very famous and old pharmacy. Here they sold ginseng roots for over a million yuan. There is a lot about Chinese medicine I don't understand, such as why snakes and lizards and ginseng together would ever be beneficial, but I'm sure there's something to it. My friend asked about what to take for a sore throat and the woman in the shop recommended xiyao, western medicine. Like many things in China, this traditional shop was being converted into a museum and the old culture being supplemented with western goods. But apparently there's some sort of pear soup/tea that is good for the cold and flu, and honeysuckle flowers brewed as a tea as well. I'm going to continue to investigate, Robin!


(They import a lot of ginseng from Wisconsin.)