Tao Pei Temple

I was enroute to visit an ancient tea merchant whom I had read about hoping to clean my organs from an MSG overload. To my despair his shop was closed, but the moments soon to follow compensated for my disappointment. Rather than ailing my rumbling stomach, I found myself at a temple. The temple's nonchalant exterior warranted little acknowledgement, but step inside and you entered a world where the traditions of ancient
Chinese culture continue to prevail. As the only Caucasian there I felt as though I had hit the gold mine of a 'local experience.' Inside the temple it was filled with smoke from the burning Chinese candles, the noise of men and women chanting for good omen upon the year to come and lastly, food was being offered to those of the deceased. It felt like I had travelled back in time to an era of ritual and superstition as opposed to the economic values it now focuses on. Upon leaving the temple I made eye contact with a man sitting on a bench outside. He smiled his toothless smile as the wrinkles around his face began to crease. He had a long grey beard and was wearing traditional Chinese attire, much like I imagine Confucius to have worn. I smiled back at him and upon doing so he waved for me to come join him on the bench. Although I was slightly apprehensive as to whether or not it was a good idea to do so, I wandered on over anyways. You can imagine our communication was limited given the language barrier between us. However through various hand signals and motions he managed to convey his amusement to me of a man nearby who was clearly on drugs. Either that or he was trying to sell me Opium. I contemplated asking for a photo of him. I even pondered the idea of a selfie with him with Instagram in mind. I would caption the photo "This man may have tried to sell me Opium, but instead I opted for a selfie" - think of the likes I would have gotten! Regrettably I did neither such thing as I was worried that he may find it offensive. Thinking back on it, I wasn't exactly in a camera shy country and he probably wouldn't have mind.