We’ll be onboard the train from Tianjin to Nanjing tomorrow afternoon.

Tianjin -> Nanjing -> Huangshan -> Hangzhou -> Shanghai -> Zhouzhuang -> Tianjin

Sounds like quite a bit for 2 weeks and I’m excited. Hope I can still catch the World Cup matches.

Until 2 weeks later…

The weather here in Tianjin and Beijing is much cooler than Singapore. Despite the constant haze and dust, it seems a tad more comfortable. As usual, I was so pampered by Tianlin’s parents. The more I eat, the happier they are, so I ate more. It was nice.

We spent our first day in Beijing to meet up with Eric and gang, as well as to visit the Residence of Prince Yong (雍和宫). This used to be the Residence of Emperor Kangxi’s (康熙) heir, Yongzheng (雍正), which was later opened up as a Lama Temple in the Qing dynasty. We managed to ‘free-ride’ off a guide who was introducing and teaching this Taiwanese couple about the various aspects of buddism and the temple. This was by far the best guide I have ever heard! Eloquent and knowledgeable, he sounds just like a professor. He answered a number of questions I have about Buddhist practices. I was so tempted to go under his tutelage then. I had to write down some of the notes I made mentally.

I am always skeptical about the practice of burning incense. Having a sensitive nose, I don’t really like the smell of the smoke. I didn’t think it serves any purpose at all. I even used to believe (thanks to all those ridiculous Hong Kong movies) the incense you burn will be eaten by the souls in the other world. So then, why do we burn incense at all? The statues we see in the temples are just the physical representation of Buddhas. Hopefully through the burning of incense, as the smoke rises up, you hope to transcend beyond the physical and reach out to the metaphysical form of the Buddhas. It is an aid to meditation. Also, it is like offering something nice (as 香) to someone you respect and love very much, akin to giving a flower to your loved one.

Using those super thick and huge incense poles is senseless and insulting. 所谓点香就是点到为止… Regardless of its size and amount, it represents a gesture of your faith and respect. It doesn’t mean that the larger and more incense you offer, the greater your faith is.

Some chinese believe that “offering the first incense” (点头香) on the first day of the Chinese New Year will give them good luck for the rest of the year. This is a huge misconception. This is further perpetuated by some misguided temples who auction out the “first incense” to bidders who are willing to pay the most. This is very wrong and goes against the notion that everyone is equal (众生平等). In fact, the “first incense” refers to the first incense any individual offers in a year at any time and is meant to represent the start of a good properous year for one. It is personal, and does not mean competing with others to get the first incense among everyone. Sadly, this has become quite a superstitious act.