Thanksgiving was spent like every other. . .day? Lane had work off, boys had school. So Lane, Amber and little one went on an excursion with a friend from church to the oldest temple in Beijing.
Everything is a way to pray, incense, candles, tablets, streamers. All of which you must buy of course.
You can pay to ring the bell, which is another way to offer a prayer.
Incense, it burns in a spiral.
At times it felt like a carnival as they had "games" you could pay to "play". This one is to throw coins in the center of the big coin and if you make the little bell ring your prayer will be answered. Yes, people were paying to play.
Rubbing the fish from head to tail was actually free, but you should rub it 3 times to grant your wish.
Candles shaped in ancient money, can guess what these prayers are for. Interestingly the line to make offerings in this section was the longest.
Before paying to go in you can buy all your prayer supplies here. But don't worry, if you missed these stalls there were carts inside for that forgotten prayer offering.
Later that night, after the boys came home from school, we joined other families for a potluck, traditional, homecooked Thanksgiving dinner.
