Kung Fu Heaven

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Our last day in Beijing has been one of the best so far. It's been a busy, varied and more of a 'Glynn and Jude' type day than we've had in a while.

We started off later than planned but were relieved to see the skies were hazy and the temperature wasn't as hot as yesterday, so I decided to get my legs out for only the third time this trip and trundle around in shorts for the day. Our first stop was at the covered market which we found completely by accident. We noticed as we were walking down a major thoroughfare that there were lots of beauty stores around and being in desperate need of deodorant, we thought this might be our best bet. Now deodorant is a hard thing to come by in China we were told and it turns out to be true. We could find more perfume than one woman (and her husband) could ever need but alas the deo was proving to be elusive. What we did find was a tattoo shop which seems to be a very new thing over here. Someone spotted a tiny bit of Glynn's Batman sticking out of the sleeve of his t-shirt and before you could say 'holy hand grenade', the people started pulling Glynn into the shop, rolled up his sleeves and proceeded to take photos of not only his tattoo but themselves with his arm! It was bizarre and cutely amusing.

After I managed to prise the locals off my husband, we spied a more 'working-class' looking shopping area which was the covered market. It was a great place and we found all sorts of stuff that we needed - scissors (I stupidly packed my last pair in my hand luggage when we left Hong Kong, so they got confiscated), metal cutlery (the plastic stuff keeps breaking), post-it notes for book-marking our guide books and .....DEODORANT! It wasn't the best stuff in the world but it was the only ones we could find anywhere. No smelly travel couple here, thank you very much!

Next stop was our actual destination for the day - the Temple of Heaven. Now this was one seriously impressive place (again). We took the Rough Guide's advice and aimed straight for the South Gate which took us on a path through pine trees full of tiny chipmunk-like creatures and beautiful bluejays flying around. We came across an old man playing a traditional looking chinese instrument like a small viola but with only 2 strings and no frets to guide you. He played the most sweet sounding melodies and his wife seemed so happy that we took an interest in the music, that she then got up and sang us a song. We were speechless and completely touched by the gesture.

When me made it to the South Gate, we folled the route the Emperor would have taken when making his annual prayer for the good harvest. This led us along a raised bridge, through Ming dynasty gateways and to the Temple of Heaven itself. It is a circular structure raised up high on a square base. The circle represents heaven; the square represnts Earth. It was a stunning building and we eagerly snapped away on our cameras along with the hoards of other tourists. Well worth making the trip.

Tonight we had tickets for the Kung Fu show at the Red Theatre. The only word I can use to describe it is 'wow'. Beats the pants off any west-end show, I can tell you. Now if you're imagining a show full of spectacular kung fu stunts you wouldn't be wrong but throw in the most amazing choreography (as good as any ballet or musical I've ever seen), a supremely talented cast and the brilliant lighting and special effects and you start to see why this was so good. Worth every penny just to see the thrill in Glynn's eyes! If you want to know more, they have a website: www.legendofkungfu.com

All in all an excellent day and a great way to round off our time in Beijing. I'm glad to say that despite the bad start, we have enjoyed ourselves here and we would consider coming back at some point for a visit, though maybe after the Olympics so that everything is open!

Thanks to everyone for the messages. Wish we could email you all personally but it's hard to get the internet time to do the blog. Hoping to get some photos on here soon as I know there haven't been any for ages. Keep 'em peeled - they'll be here in the next few days, fingers crossed. So, it's goodbye Beijing and hello Xi'an in 2 day's time!

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Comments

[Franziska]

Franziska und Papa
Hallo Jude, hallo Glynn, wir sind froh dass es Euch gut geht und Ihr Eure Reise geniessen koennt. Wir haben unseren Urlaub in der Schweiz auch genossen und sind wieder gesund und munter zu Hause angekommen. Danke für Eure Postkarte aus Osaka. Viele liebe Gruesse und alles Gute und viele, viele schöne Erlebnisse wuenschen Franziska und Papa