China Part 3–Tiananmen Square (night) & Temple of Heaven

We decided to make a return trip to Tiananmen Square to see the difference the night made.
Here are some of the images.





We also visited the Temple of Heaven. This very peaceful location, that is yet another example of Ming architecture, was where a large number of Chinese retirees came to relax. There were people doing all kinds of recreational activities (board games, dancing, singing, and rythmic gymnastics below).



The main feature is Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests. It’s 38 meters high and the round structure symbolizes heaven, which is contrasted by the rectangular base (and walls) which are the earth.



Next stop was a little cultural exploration in the form of shopping.






These are Dragon Fruit (Anna really liked the way they looked and their real name is Pitaya).

Then, there are the lychee fruits.

Another Chinese delicacy that we came to love were dumplings. Here is a group of cooks preparing them.

Not only did we explore on foot, we also went by pedicab. The areas we were exploring are called Hutongs (narrow alleyways). The roots of this type of urban development trace back to when Genghis Khan
laid waste to Beijing (known as Peking then). These narrow alley ways dominated zoning for the city for many centuries. However, they are rapidly being replaced by high rise apartment complexes (with much less character). Unfortunately, with the Olympic games coming to the city in 2008, the buildings there are being ruthlessly demolished by the government (with very little, if any, compensation to the owners). In fact, the atmosphere all around the country is of a headlong rush to modernize everything (oftentimes with extensive use of manual labor).


We also got a blown melted sugar sculpture of each of our birth years.



While it didn’t last long in the heat, it was fun to watch him make it.

We also went to a tea shop that allowed us to sample different types of tea. Plus, they also had dried tea leaves with a chrysanthemum inside that blossomed with hot water.


As a random picture, this is the view from our hotel.

The next post will have our last pictures from Beijing and the first from Xi’an.
–Jim