Day 3
Temple of Heaven, Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square
Our first stop was Tiananmen Square, the largest city square in the world. I was a little disappointed with the weather. The whole square was hard to see clearly through the haze. The famous picture of Mao is on the side of the Gate of Heavenly Peace, which is across from the entrance to the Forbidden City.
The Forbidden City is sectioned into an outer court (where lesser nobles lived) and the inner court where the royal family lived.
The Forbidden City is undergoing a huge face lift for the upcoming Olympic Games in Beijing, so unfortunately, many places were closed or just not as scenic with green scaffolding surrounding it, but what can you do? It was still a great sight to see.
Then we headed out to lunch what was inside the Temple of Heaven. This is where the emperor would go once a year to pray to heaven for a good harvest. The grounds outside the Temple are absolutely huge and beautiful. We actually had to take an oversized golf cart to the restaurant from our bus. There were two places in Beijing that were my absolute favs. The grounds to the Temple of Heaven was one. There were tons of birds flitting around and people doing traditional Chinese exercises, dances and games all around.
After lunch (were I found out that one person from our group was an American ambassador to some place in the Middle East), we toured the Temple of Heaven. A cool part to the Temple of Heaven was Echo Wall. There is this circular wall next to the temple that if you talk or whisper behind one of the buildings on one side someone behind the other building can hear you and speak back.
We walked back through the grounds towards our bus and we came across the area where most people do their morning exercises. Some people were still hanging out. One set of people were playing with this racket and ball. Instead of hitting the ball back to the other, they would sort of catch it and redirect the energy of the ball back to the other person. It was all very Tai Chi. I played for a little bit and actually impressed the guy I was playing with. --Which is amazing, since I'm a total klutz. Aikido, must still have an affect on me.!!--
That was it for our tour of the day. I went back to my hotel and got information on where to go to find a couple books that my boss back in Taiwan wanted. Figures for me that the place to go was back to Wangfuging Street. (Where I've been every day so far!)
Our first stop was Tiananmen Square, the largest city square in the world. I was a little disappointed with the weather. The whole square was hard to see clearly through the haze. The famous picture of Mao is on the side of the Gate of Heavenly Peace, which is across from the entrance to the Forbidden City.
The Forbidden City is sectioned into an outer court (where lesser nobles lived) and the inner court where the royal family lived.
The Forbidden City is undergoing a huge face lift for the upcoming Olympic Games in Beijing, so unfortunately, many places were closed or just not as scenic with green scaffolding surrounding it, but what can you do? It was still a great sight to see.
Then we headed out to lunch what was inside the Temple of Heaven. This is where the emperor would go once a year to pray to heaven for a good harvest. The grounds outside the Temple are absolutely huge and beautiful. We actually had to take an oversized golf cart to the restaurant from our bus. There were two places in Beijing that were my absolute favs. The grounds to the Temple of Heaven was one. There were tons of birds flitting around and people doing traditional Chinese exercises, dances and games all around.
After lunch (were I found out that one person from our group was an American ambassador to some place in the Middle East), we toured the Temple of Heaven. A cool part to the Temple of Heaven was Echo Wall. There is this circular wall next to the temple that if you talk or whisper behind one of the buildings on one side someone behind the other building can hear you and speak back.
We walked back through the grounds towards our bus and we came across the area where most people do their morning exercises. Some people were still hanging out. One set of people were playing with this racket and ball. Instead of hitting the ball back to the other, they would sort of catch it and redirect the energy of the ball back to the other person. It was all very Tai Chi. I played for a little bit and actually impressed the guy I was playing with. --Which is amazing, since I'm a total klutz. Aikido, must still have an affect on me.!!--
That was it for our tour of the day. I went back to my hotel and got information on where to go to find a couple books that my boss back in Taiwan wanted. Figures for me that the place to go was back to Wangfuging Street. (Where I've been every day so far!)
posted by Amanda at
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