so much learning in so little time

Ok, I have one more full day in Beijing and a half day on Wednesday.

Yesterday, after arriving at Beijing, I headed to the Tiananmen square. We made it just in time for the taking down of the flag, so my uncle and I stayed to watch that. 

Soldiers marching in to take down the flag. Traffic was stopped in all directions

Tiananmen square in its splendor

After that, we went to the DaShiEr, streets filled with traditional Beijing food and cultural things. There’s a old silk store, and right across the street is the traditional shoe store. My aunt bought a pair of shoes for me there. It’s quite comfortable. After that we just wandered around the streets, with my aunt and uncle occasionally buying me something to eat.

Today:

The first destination was Tiantan: The Temple of Heaven. It was constructed in 1406-1420 under the Yongle Emperor of the Ming dynasty. Later on, the Jiaqing Emperor during the 16^th century expanded it. Today, it is a UNESCO world heritage site. 

constructed in 1530 during Jiajing's era, this circular mound was used to hold the ceremony for worshiping Heaven during the winter solstice. The steps of each leading flight, the slabs of each tier are 9, or in multiples of 9, symbolizing the 9 layers of heaven and emphasizing its supreme importance

The circular structure that the only the Emperor could stand on to worship to the heaven

The Imperial Hall of  Prayer

Stone step reserved only for the Emperor. The clouds symbolizing the bottom level. The phoenix is the next level. And the highest level is the dragon, symbolizing the emperor

This is known as the 70 year old door. During Qianlong's reign of the Qing dynasty, when he was 70 years old, he was getting too old to be walking the distance. So his advisors had people build this door as a shortcut. However, Qianlong was afraid that his offsprings would abuse this privilage, so he issued a decree saying that his offsprings could only used this door if they reached 70 years of age. Since Qianlong, this door has never been used since none of his offsprings who were Emperors lived to be past 70 years old.

After the Tiantan was Yonghe gong. Today, this is a Lama temple. It used to be residence of Yinzhen, the 4^th son of Kangxi Emperor of the Qing dynasty. When Yinzhen became Emperor, his reigning name was Yongzheng. Thus, his place of residence was called Yonghe (harmony and peace) Gong.

It's quite extensive. You have to get incense to pay hommage to the Buddha, if you choose to do so. 

I also went to the Confucius temple and the Imperial College Museum. Today, parents go to this place to pray that their child will do well at the college entrance exam.

Coming back to China this year has been a bit strange. I've been getting a lot of comments telling me I'm an ethnic minority. Some tell me I look like I'm a Korean , or Mongolian, or Russian ethnic minority. Other people tell me I resemble people from the middle east, or Indian or Pakistan. Huh, interesting, what interesting comments. 

A day and half til the states! Tomorrow's plan is the Bird's Nest, and the National Museum. 

Ciao!