Blogs from Temple of Heaven, Beijing, China, Asia

Sunday, 21st April 2019 I took a long metro + bus excursion out of Beijing to the Wanping Ancient City this morning. Home to the famed Marco Polo Bridge, this was where World War II officially started in China after Japan waged their aggression across the bridge. Housed within the city walls is the Museum of the War of Chinese People's Resistance Against Japanese Aggression. This is a huge museum containing lots of information about the War. It really helped that there was a free guided tour when I was there which summarize the information to a more manageable magnitude. China did not officially surrendered during the eight-year war between 1937-1945. After the coastal cities fell to the Japanese in the early part of the campaign, the war eventually reached a stalemate given the strong willpower ... read more

I haven’t seen this many Western people on the entire trip over here in China. When I got off the train from Xi’an, I was shocked to see so many Western people, I turned this way, Western person, I turned that way, Western person. I was really surprised that there were so many. It was pretty funny for a while. I was walking in the markets yesterday, when a Chinese guy came up to me asking where I was from, and calling me ‘Army Girl’ because of my cap. I told him Australia and he was like’ Australia? Awesome, you are cool, Australian Army Girl’. I walked off with Tamara laughing, but the entire time I was talking to this guy, an American guy who looked to be in his sixties was just looking between me ... read more

Today was our last day in the beautiful capital city of Beijing. The morning was clear and we got to sleep in a little, all the way to 7:30. Before we left for breakfast we had to pack our belongings and put our checked baggage in the hall by 8:00 AM so that they can be loaded into the bus for our afternoon ride to the airport. More on that later, now breakfast. Again we began the day with a sumptuous feast in our hotel. Today they added a new item, fresh made juice in a veg o magic machine. They offered such choices as pineapple, watermelon and cucumber as well as a bright orange carrot juice. I opted for the watermelon. It was OK, but not worth it, in my opinion. I dined on fruits, ... read more

Another flight. Another country - this one would take us to China where we were to spend the next three weeks surrounded by skyscrapers. We arrived in Beijing at the enormous airport, which opened prior to the Olympic Games in 2008 and is the largest airport in the world. Despite it's size, or maybe because of it, we found it ghostly quiet and very quickly we passed through immigration and soon had found our way to the BRT (metro) station. Stopping at an ATM to fill our wallets we were a little shocked to find that the exchange rate was lower than we were expecting.... It was an easy trip into the city but we did get confused when we walked out of the underground into the gloom of the late afternoon. We had booked a ... read more

Our last day in Beijing. In the morning, we check out and move our bags to the belly of the bus. Our first stop is the Temple of Heaven Park, a 267 hectare oasis of peace in the heart of the city. We first stroll through the extensive grounds surrounding the central temple complex. This is a favorite park for Beijing residents to visit, especially in the morning. We see various groups performing tai chi, yoga, and several types of dancing and games. Some of our number who are familiar with tai chi join in with one of the groups, but the female leader is not pleased with their form and corrects them repeatedly, clucking her disapproval. All taken in good spirits, however. When we reach the centre of the grounds, we enter the Temple of ... read more