Today was the last day of our tour in Beijing. Once I woke up, I started
packing my belongings into my bags and brought them down to the hotel
restaurant at Level 3 where I had breakfast.
After we ate, we carried our luggage down to the lobby and returned the
card key at the hotel counter. Then we got into the tour bus and left for the
Temple of Heaven. This was where the Emperor used to go and pray to Heaven for
good harvest and rain.
Hopping into the tour bus
The Temple consists of 2 parts- The outer temple and the inner temple.
The main buildings are located in the inner temple and to get there, you must
walk through the outer temple.
The outer temple looks very much like a park. Here, we saw a lot of people
gather to play Chinese chess, cards or dominoes. Some were even dancing,
playing racket games, or knitting goods and selling them to the public who
walked pass.
Playing Chinese Chess
Playing Word Mahjong (I’m serious! Those Mahjong tiles have letters of
the alphabet on them.)
Performing a Tibetan Dance
Playing Poker Cards
It was actually quite pleasant to see people coming to the park and
bonding over a common activity. I wish that we could do the same here in
Singapore. Perhaps the reason why Singaporeans don’t conduct such park
activities is because the weather is too HOT. But still, such activities are
good for the heart, mind and soul.
When we finally made our way into the inner temple, we started snapping
photos of everything everywhere. Appended below are some photos I took in the
inner temple.
The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests (top) and its interior (bottom)
The Imperial Hall of Heaven
The Imperial Vault of Heaven
The Circular Mound Altar (just beyond the 3 gates)
Our next stop was the Dongwu Silk Hall. Here, a guide showed us how the
silk was obtained from the silk worms and used to make a blanket. I must admit
that wet silk from the cocoon feels rather like wet wool. However, it is
surprising stretchable and I was astounded to see the staff at the Silk Hall
pull the silk and placed it, layer by layer on the table to make the blanket
stuffing.
A demonstration of how the silk is pulled to form a layer for the
blanket stuffing
They even had a shop inside the Silk Hall itself selling various
articles of silk such as quilt covers, pillows, scarves, shirts, skirts and
sweaters. I can tell you that however pretty the items on sale were, the prices
were equally “pretty” too. It’s a shame that I am on a budget. Oh well, one
must sometimes learn to resist impulsive shopping (*Sigh*).
Detailed embroidery on quilt covers
Exquisite designs on bales of silk
Clothing and scarves/ shawls on sale
The last stop of our trip was at a restaurant. After a long walk in the
Temple of Heaven, those classmates whom I was sitting with at the same table
were (once again) ravenous. I regret not taking a picture of the food before we
tucked in but I can tell you it was a sumptuous way to celebrate our last day
in Beijing.
The name of the restaurant
We got into the bus at about 2.20 pm, left Beijing at 3.57pm and finally
reached our hotel in Tianjin at about 5pm- Can you imagine? It took more than 2
hours just to come back here to Tianjin. That seriously proves how BIG Tianjin
and Beijing are (and they are just 2 of the provinces in China).
After this trip, I now understand why people like to go overseas- you
don’t have to think or worry too much and you can try completely new things
that you’d have never thought you could do (like climbing the Great Wall of
China) or buy lots of souvenirs back for memory’s sake (as long as you have the
budget for it).
I hope you, my readers, have enjoyed reading my last 3 blog entries as
much as I have enjoyed this tour.
I wish you all a good night’s rest and may you dream of doing something
new and exciting tonight (like climbing the Great Wall of China from end to end,
non-stop… twice!- Just joking).
Best regards,
Marianne
Author’s Note:
References
Brendon. (23 Jan 2012). Beijing
Travel – The Temple Of Heaven. Retrieved on 16 Sept 2012 from http://chinatravelgo.com/beijing-travel-temple-of-heaven/
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