Another event was the 8th birthday of my friend's nephew, my first one in China, complete with a birthday cake and candles. The birthday cake looked so beautiful it seemed a pity to eat it, but Du Fei did with obvious pleasure! The weather wasn't particularly kind during the evening and when we came out of the restaurant it was pouring with rain; just like UK weather. It was November so what else could one expect. 
A few days later, the snow and ice came, made worse by a bitterly cold wind. Fortunately this cleared after four days so it was possible to walk amongst all the building work at the Shaolin Temple without sliding down the slopes out of control. Even in such weather, visitors still came to the temple, sometimes in groups and sometimes just one or two people with their temple guide.
There was a lot of work going on at the Shaolin Temple with some of the workers using skills that could well have been used by the craftsmen who built the original temple halls. Large trunks of trees delivered to the site were prepared, shaped and carved into posts, beams and figure-heads, to fit together like a jig-saw. Still more new Kung Fu Schools were being built between the Temple and the city of Dengfeng. Quite often there would be school-crocodiles making their way along the road. Lines of hundreds of walking students that seemed to go on for miles and you could always hear their approach by their school chants.
I hope the coming year will bring you days of happiness to enjoy and share with your family, your friends and neighbours. Whenever you think you are having a bad day, remember, there is always tomorrow......... Dont worry about things you cannot change........ BE HAPPY !