A Ceremonial Trip

Last month, I went to Taiyuan, in the Shanxi Province to see some friends I hadn't visited in almost a year. It was nice to be there and hang out with them. The Sunday I was there, it seemed like there was a recurring theme, ceremonies...
On my way to Sunday services, there was a procession from a wedding ceremony at the church coming down the street and people from the church handing out fliers about what the Bible says marriage is all about. Then, a few minutes later, there was a department store having a grand anniversary ceremony in front of their main entrance. It was quite interesting to see the group of percussionists all lined up beating on drums and symbols in an almost hypnotic repetitive rhythm, almost as if to mesmerize everyone "buy our stuff, buy our stuff, buy our stuff..."
The service at the church that morning also seemed rather ceremonial as their liturgy is much more traditional than what I'm used to back home in the States.

You never know what you'll encounter here in the land of ancient rites and ceremonies...