Here’s an open letter to my 6-year-old nephew, Bertie. I sent him a postcard from Yonghe Temple in Beijing with a link to this blog post written on the postcard. If he receives it, it will give him some fun themed activities he can access himself or with his class mates if his teacher thinks it might be relevant. I sent the postcard to him via his school.

This blog is part of a series on a similar theme. If you would like to read my post from Beihai Park, click here: A postcard from Beihai Park, Beijing.

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Dear Bertie

If you are reading this, you will have received another postcard. I hope you are well.

I visited Yonghe Temple in Beijing after hearing they have a 14 metre statue carved from a single piece of wood!

It’s a Tibetan Buddhist monastery and like much I have seen already, extremely old.

I saw a lot of people praying and burning incense so the air was filled with a sweet delicate scent.

I saw Chinese guardian lions and many statues. However, the most impressive sight was the one which had brought me there in the first place, the statue of Maitreya Buddha. It’s one of the must impressive statues I’ve ever seen. Carved from a single piece of wood, it’s 18 metres tall!

I’ve put together a video of the day for you to watch. If your friends are interested you could ask your teacher whether you can watch it in class:

I hope you enjoyed the video. The day has inspired me to do some meditation to relax after work. Have you ever meditated? I highly recommend it! If you and your friends want to try, here’s one which is very simple but works very well:

Now, how do you feel?

Take care and I will send you another postcard soon!

Uncle Oliver x

References:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yonghe_Temple

https://www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/beijing/yonghe.htm

Are you a teacher? If yes, you might be interested in these adaptable games and board games, including a language dominoes template: Games and board games