Temple of Heaven

Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests

Maiko left and headed back to Shanghai. It was just Taru and me left in the same room. So we decided, being our last day, to go to the Temple of Heaven.

It was a success for us going through the train system. It wasn't that hard at all since the signs were both in Chinese and English. Good because I wasn't totally up for the challenge. However, in saying that, I slowly got a grasp of the symbols and how each direction, i.e. North-South-West-East, had it's own symbol in the Chinese language. So at least that was a good start for me. 

When we got out of the train, the smog was so intense that we realized we were squinting because it was hurting our eyes. I knew back then that China had a reputation for high pollution levels, but I wasn't expecting it to be that bad. We purchased the tickets at the gate and referred to the map. 

The Temple of Heaven is located right in the Chongwen District of Beijing. Apparently, it was a sacrificial building back in the ancient centuries of the Qing and Ming Dynasties. I wouldn't have thought of that had I not read further about the place. It looked so serene and peaceful to be a sacrificial temple. It started out as a park for the general public, showcasing ancient philosophy, religion and history. The size of the whole park seemed to have outsized the area of the Forbidden City, which was amazing. From the outside, people would notice that the whole park is protected by a long wall. The northern part was built to be higher than the southern part which depicts the belief that the heaven is higher than the earth. The actual Temple of Heaven is divided into 2 encircling walls, an inner and outer.

We started to walk through the park and decided to check out the happenings around before further exploring. It was really cute how the locals communed, doing their own different things on a Sunday morning. Some ladies were knitting and some guys were playing cards or backgammon. The whole dynamics of the Chinese families were fascinating to watch. Taru and I just smiled as we walked through one of the hallways, while we observantly watched a few men play a game with what seemed like a small tennis racket and catching a heavy piece of ball. It was more to do with the art and grace of catching the ball, rather than the energy and force of smacking it back to the other party. 

We walked further and got to the first major building, The Altar of Prayer for Good Harvests, which can be found in postcards of the Temple of Heaven Park. The emperor would go there to pray for good weather and abundant harvests. It was the first building built in the Park, a small complex consisting of the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests and Altar for Grain Prayers. There was a pre-wedding photo shoot at the foot of the building. The bride was in her striking but elegant red gown and the groom was in the usual men's black attire.I know Taru got a little bit annoyed with me because I stole a few shots without asking the couple's permission. My way of thinking was, since they opted to have a public photo shoot, then it must be for public consumption as well. 

We continued on to the rest of the buildings around. There were a few artists busking and a few just playing around with some kids. We slowly found our way to the Imperial Vault of Heaven which was also surrounded by the Echo wall, which by the way, didn't seem to echo our voices when we tried. The Vault was  the location of the Heaven Worship Ceremony. The whole architecture apparently utilizes the theory of sound waves, combining the Echo Wall, Three Echo Stones and the Dialogue Stone.We lingered for a while, watching the people try their luck with the Echo Wall. However, after a few minutes, we found ourselves secretly laughing because the efforts were so much that it was more of shouting than echoing that we could hear them. So much for sound wave theory. As usual, the Vault itself wasn't available for public viewing in the inside. People just stood at the doorway and took turns checking out what was in the interior. 

We walked further along and finally got to the main architecture the Circular Mound Altar, which is the actual Temple of Heaven. Located in the South part of the park, this was the main location of sacrifices on the day of Winter Solstice. People seemed crazy taking photos standing on the Circular Mound, trying to fit everyone on the small circumference on the ground. We lingered for a while and found it a little bit touristy for our liking. So we found a side staircase where we sat down for a while until I finished filling up my postcards. The smog was still annoying in the background. As we walked back to the main entrance, we noticed a sign that caught my attention, I couldn't help but take a photo. Now, there must have been a previous situation that caused authorities to put up that sign. Definitely, why would someone be there during a thunderstorm??? Go figure. 

We chose a different path to walk. We knew we were finishing our Beijing trip soon. It was a nice day hanging out with Taru as we talked about a lot of stuff. We decided to end the day by having dinner at a Chinese place near our hostel. We made a toast and discussed further travel and life plans :)