Chinese Cultural Center - Statuary & Stonework

One must first & always, of course, charm the guardian dragon. I did a little tap-shuffle-dip number but refrained from singing ... smart move! I also voiced strong positive opinions about his goatee, and discovered he's a little ticklish under the collar ruff!

Here is my new friend, the face of welcome on this my new blog!

I just know she's about to tell a blond joke!

Demure, shy, she greets us visitors. Is she a little sad? Perhaps she would like her own chance to meander slowly through this lush, solemn, harboring garden.

I want to touch her, hold her face, let her know it's all right with me if she meets my eyes, speaks.

And here be the guardian of the water source, fearsome & watchful, a trifle slobbery as is only natural for such as he. I did NOT try tickling him under his chin!

There were five of these gentle stone souls here, facing the Buddha in the center of the lake. Each of these is holding something particular -- do they tend to Buddha's earthly or physical needs?

This is my favorite of the five statues lined up so quietly, so patiently, above. I can't quite discern what he's holding -- a basket with a leaf or feather in it?

This is a magical photo for me -- if I step through, will I be transported to 15th century China? Will I have long straight silken brown hair, a slender physique, a walk as graceful as all my ancestors? Will I finally be SHORT?

Detail of stone arch and eaves.

Stone pattern on several of the pathways. Luscious!!! I'd never seen anything like this before.

This is how I imagine/prefer the face of any spiritual or artistic mentor to look: wisdom, surely, but also accessibility, warmth, more than a small touch of the impish. He even pulls off his uni-brow with panache, doesn't he? It seems more like a pair of wings with a center jewel, there on his forehead. When my dad used to patiently (& endlessly) tutor me through algebra and geometry and calculus, his face looked like this. Thank god, or I'd still be trying to pass 9th grade math.