The weather is warm and humid here, but not as much as HK. I went out with our guide to see the Temple of heaven, lama temple, bell and drum towers, hutong. This is the summer season, so plenty of Chinese people are on vacation with their kids.
In Asian times, the emperor had to go to the temple of heaven 3 times a year to pray. Only the emperor and his peeps could go there, commoners could not. Now the commoners are the emperor, and they can all go there.
The outer park area is free. Saw lots of people there dancing for exercise. In the past, everyone had to work. Now, the older people get pensions and can have some leisure. After taking their grandchildren to school, ladies may come to the park and participate in the group dance exercise, which is led by a man. Anyone is welcome to join in, even visitors. For the first few days you will be new. After that, you will be an old friend. (Vanessa says boat is like that, too.)After exercise, the ladies may go to the market to get food for lunch. I also saw people doing ballroom dance and playing badminton. The birdie may fall every serve; no matter, they just keep at it. If you do not wish to exercise, you can play mah Jong, or sing, or knit. there were also men painting Chinese characters in water with a big brush on the pavement. The characters evaporate in a short time. Visitors are also welcome to try their hand at this. Alas, I have not a clue how to draw these characters.
The temple property is bounded by a square wall. Inside is a round wall. The number 9 was reserved for the emperor. The first level has 9 steps and has a cloud theme. The second level has 18 and has the Phoenix. The third level has 27 and has the dragon. These symbols are repeated thru out.
The temple of heaven building is used widely to represent Beijing. It houses a tablet which is brought out once a year for praying. There are side buildings for the moon and the sun, but they must defer to heaven.
Our next stop was the lama temple. In the Forbidden City, boys had to leave when they were 13. This site was originally the prince's palace. After he became emperor, he made it into a buddhist temple. It is conserved to be good luck, because the price became the emperor. There are several buildings, each with 3 Buddhas inside. One, for example, had the Buddhas of the past, present and future. Each building has a tall threshold. It is meant to slow you down. The crowning jewel of this temple is a tall Buddha made of a single tree from Nepal. It is said to have been a thousand years old. I have never seen such a large tree. Apparently it was transported by river, installed, and a building constructed around it. It is a wonder.
At one point we paused to get drinks. The guide found me waiting on some steps. He suggested we step inside a Chinese restaurant. We cooled off there and sipped our drinks. He offered to get me some food, but all they had was beef and rice, and I've had as much of that as I can take, thank you. After we left, I told him I would never think of stepping inside a restaurant and using their table without buying anything. He says this is all right, it is ok to do this in china. It is also ok to bring your bottled water in with you. Everyone drinks lots of it here.
The bell and drum towers were built 600 years ago. The bell is rung on special occasions, like Chinese new year. drum performances are held several times a day, however, for tourists. The stairs in the drum tower are very steep and narrow. From the top there is a view of the city, including the tallest building. The drum performance is like the Taiko we have in Portland, but without the vocalizations. The steps out are again very steep and narrow!
We walked the adjacent hutong, or alley with one story living spaces. This is the 'real' Beijing. Each family lives in about 20 square meters. (our hotel room is twice that size.) young people tend to move to apartments, where they have private bathrooms. Showers and toilets are shared in the hutongs. the are also small markets in the hutong so it is not necessary to leave for supplies. International students like to live in the hutongs because they can speak the language with many people. Many of the hutongs have been removed to make room for roads, shopping plazas and hotels like ours.
We went past the supreme court, whilst returning home on the bus. It is not far from our hotel.
This evening we went across the street to a Chinese restaurant for dinner. The menuwas a picture book with Chinese and English labels. We found chicken noodle soup and also vegetables. Someone asked if 2 'foreigners' could share our table, so we were joined by two women. One was at a monthlong legal study abroad put on by Willamette University in Shanghai. She is from Florida. The other is a dragonboater from Ottawa.
Tonight was the first time in years I've been in a restaurant where someone was smoking. This in spite of the No Smoking sign, of course. It was only one table, so not terrible.
We were sitting near the door. Suddenly there came excitement. It had been raining hard and two restaurant employees were sweeping water away when the wake of passing cars came. The water was up to the hub of the pedicabs. It covered the street and sidewalk. The sweeping went on for quite a while. All of us who could see, and the people and kids at the door, were laughing. Some people tied plastic bags over their shoes, but really, there was no way that was going to do the job! We made ourselves comfortable and just waited for the water to subside.
When we left we got a light show. Lots of lightening, lighting up the gray sky. We are hoping that the rain will clear some of the smog.
Tomorrow is the great wall. Our dinner companions told us it is hot there. We are planning to head out early.
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