This is my final post on our trip to Beijing.
We had the most amazing time, and saw a lot of fantastic things. What I liked most about our trip, was having a tour guide. We often walk through town and see things without knowing what they are or why people do certain things. Having a tour guide makes all the difference, as Susanna was able to explain Chinese culture to us, as well as tell us the history of things and background information on all sorts of rituals, superstitions and social behaviours.
The Temple of Heaven
The
Temple of Heaven is a religious building (surprise!) It actually consists of a number of buildings / areas which each have different functions. It was constructed by Emperor Zhu Di (the same Emperor whose Tomb we visited previously). Incidentally, he also commissioned The Forbidden City.
The Emperor (Ming and Qing Dynasties) would vist the Temple twice a year to pray for good harvests. He was the only one allowed into the Temple.
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| Walking towards the entrance |
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| The Meridian Line - this runs throughout Beijing. The Emperors believed that China was in the centre of the Universe (nothing's changed), so all the major temples are built along this Meridian Line |
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| Decorations for the upcoming festival |
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| The entrance |
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| Inside |
The area consists of: Temple of the Moon; Temple of the Sun; Temple of the Earth; Circular Mound; Imperial Vault and the Hall fo Prayer.
Walking into the complex, the first stop is the
Circular Mound Altar. It is a circular platforms which has multiple levels (and more stairs). In the centre of the mound is the Heart of Heaven. This is where the Emperor prayed for favourable weather.
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| Entrance to the Circular mound |
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| In front of the steps (again) up to the Circular Mound |
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| Liesl on the Heart of Heaven |
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| View behind us |
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| View in front of us |
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| This is a furnace which was used to burn the offerings. |
Next is the
Imperial Vault of Heaven. This is surrounded by an echo wall, which can transmit sound over a long distance. There are three echo stones in front of the vault. Standing on the first one, means you can hear the echo once. The second one echoes twice, and the third one.... well, I'm sure you get the picture.
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| Imperial Vault |
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| The Imperial vault surrounded by the echo wall |
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| Inside are tablets and artefacts used for the offerings |
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| A large incense burner - even in ancient times, the Chinese couldn't stand the smell of their own city. Nothing much has changed, except I imagine the smell has gotten worse... |
Lastly you have the
Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest - this is the main building and the one that everyone recognises. It is a triple-gabled building made entirely of wood, and NO NAILS! It has four inner, twelve middle and twelve outer pillars which represent: the four seasons, twelve months, and twelve traditional Chinese hours.
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| Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest |
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| The 4 pillars inside the Hall of Prayer |
One interesting thing is that Chinese believe in Heaven and Earth and place great importance on the connection between the two. In design (especially architecture), they symbolise this through shapes: circle/ round (Heaven) on top of something square (Earth).
Which is why a lot of the temples are round in shape. As in the case of the Temple of Heaven - all the prayer buildings are round, standing on a square yard.
The Summer Palace
The Summer Palace is at the foot of Longevity Hill, and is built around Lake Kunming - which is a huge man-made lake. It is a huge area and comprises of many different buildings, parks and gardens.
It was the summer palace for Emperor Dowager Cixi. Who was also known as the Dragon Lady. Her son was Emperor Tongzhi. When he died, she consolidated control over the Qing Dynasty and appointed her nephew as the next Emperor. She therefore, unofficially but effectively controlled the Dynasty - which as a woman was unheard of.
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| Entrance to the Summer Palace |
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| The Unfortunate Stone - it was brought as a gift for the Dowager. It took months to transport it to the Palace, and people transporting it died along the way. Therefore, the Dowager Empress named it so, as it brought bad luck |
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| One of the three poems carved into the stone. |
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| The Dragon and Phoenix: The dragon signifies the Emperor and the Phoenix signifies the Empress. Usually the Dragon is on the right, and holds a ball in its claw (signifying that the Emperor is all powerful). However, the Dowager Empress placed the Dragon to the left with an empty claw and the Phoenix on the right, presiding over all things, emphasising her power over all. |
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| Another symbol of the Empress - with the baby under her foot. |
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| One of the pretty dragon boats on the lake |
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| The Marble Boat |
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| Me on the dragon boat we took across the lake |
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| Can you say "crowded"? |
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| The Lotus Flower seed pod. I only took this pic because I've eaten one! When they are still green, and have seed pods in the little holes, people take out the seeds and eat them as snacks. You peel off the green skin and eat the white fruit inside. They have no taste really, just a bit sweet |
The Olympic Stadium
We went for a walk around the Olympic Birdnest Stadium - built for the Beijing Olympic Games. The area is huge and very impressive. Nice modern sports stadium.
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| The Stadium grounds. In the background is a hotel built specifically for the games. There are 5 buildings in the shape of a dragon. It is RMB30 000 per night! |
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| Bit of the stadium |
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| Us and the main stadium |
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| The Olympic Pool arena |
The Great Wall
This is truly one of the coolest things I've ever seen. It's so breathtakingly beautiful, and it's easy to see why it's one of the Wonders of the World.
Before our trek up the wall, we went for lunch at a lovely restaurant close by.
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| This food was divine! |
The
Great Wall of China measures approx 8 850km long. There are many sections of the wall opened to tourists. We went to the Mutianyu area. We had the option of a two hour hike up to the top of the wall.... or a 10 min cable car ride. This was a hard decision.... NOT.
The wall was started in 220-206 BC, and built along the norther border of China, so as to protect the country from invasion.
There are many facets to the wall, including watch towers, troop barracks, garrison stations and signaling capabilities (through smoke). The surface of the wall is also quite difficult to walk along. It's very hilly with steep up and down slopes - not for the feint-hearted.
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| Map of the route |
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| On the way up to catch the cable car, there is a huge market selling curios, water etc. It's a very steep walk up to the cable car, with... LOTS OF STAIRS! |
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| In the cable car |
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| View of the wall from the cable car |
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| The map |
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| At the cable car exit |
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| View from the top |
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| The stairs we had to climb up to get on top of the look out station |
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| Yay! Stairs! |
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| Did I mention how steep it is?? |
Peking Duck
On our last night in Beijing we decided to treat ourselves to some Peking Duck. I've never had this before, and what better place to have Peking Duck, than in Old Peking!
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| Eagerly awaiting the arrival of our food! |
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| The Chef carving our duck |
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| Nom, nom, nom! Check me out - I'm getting quite handy with the chopsticks. I can even eat rice with them now! |
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| Check it out!! |
We had the most amazing time in Beijing and would love to go back. If anyone is planning a trip to China, Beijing should be your ultimate stop. It's such an awesome city. Rich in culture, food and history.
Cant' wait for our next outing!
xxx
