Great Wall, Chengdu and Pandas

The Great Wall was truly amazing. However, we have left Beijing and are now in Chengdu. It is much closer to the epicenter of the earthquake. We are now only 100 miles away. We have experienced some hardship because of the earthquake which is understandable. We were unable to go to Hanzhong as many of you know. That city is in total disrepair and much help is needed. So instead we went to Chengdu 3 days early. However, the government has issued a mandated 3 day period of memoriam which began on Monday. This means no sporting events or entertainment. So we have to wait to begin our concerts. This has given us time to go more sightseeing and relaxing. Many of us have done more shopping, gotten massages, and many other things here in the city.

Last night a group of students went to the town center and saw a mass of people. We inquired as to what was going on and were told it was a candlelight vigil for those who died in the earthquake. It was truly miraculous to be in the crowd experiencing it with the people. We could see the pain and anguish on their faces, something not often seen in the US. Many people asked us to pray which is amazing. God is doing amazing things in China by His grace, we are simply his feet and hands.

But as some of you know, last night around midnight we all were awoke and told to meet in the lobby. They wanted us all to be together in case anything bad happened. The Chinese government predicted an earthquake of around 6.0 would occur that night so we met to discuss the plan if anything bad were to happen. Thankfully nothing bad happened, there was an earthquake about 80 miles away but not much was felt in Chengdu so praise the Lord for that.

On a happier note today we did more touring and visited the Panda Reserve in Chengdu. We got to see giant, red, and baby panda's and they were so cute we all wanted to take them home. After that we did some more shopping at a town market and had a relaxing rest of the night and were free to do as we pleased. Tomorrow will be more touring before our concerts begin up again on Thursday.

So we are all safe and sound, and Joanna and Cheriss (Members of the Vanguard Singers and Band last year) are meeting us in Chengdu tomorrow and we are all looking forward to that. Please pray for safety, guidance, and health and we continue our trip in China.

I will continue updating as I have a chance so keep checking back.

Love, The China Team