Well today we traveled from Hangzhou to Fuzhou. We took a crammed bus and then a bullet train. At the train station in Fuzhou we had an extremely warm welcome! Our hosts, several monks from the Kaiyuan Temple and some translators, made an enormous banner, about 12 feet long, welcoming us to Fuzhou.

We were then piled into a bus and drove to a place called Three Alleys and Seven Lanes. This is where a lot of ancient residential areas are, which we toured. We then had a tea break and had the pleasure of looking at a new exhibit of a Tibetan artist and speaking with him about his work.

We then traveled to the hotel and were warmly welcomed with an extravagant feast featuring several speeches. When I walked into the room where we were having dinner, I was shocked with the chandlers and the chair coverings. A group of foreign exchange students from Fuzhou also attended this banquet with us. It is my understanding that these students will also be learning and experiencing the temple practices that we will be introduced to tomorrow.