April 26 - Arrival in Beijing

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Hooray - we finally arrived in Beijing after 40 hours on the train. Thankfully we chose very well with our times as sadly there was an earthquake that hit Nepal just hours after we left Lhasa. The earthquake was 7.8 and felt through Tibet, Bhutan, India and Bangladesh. I feel terrible for the suffering of the people in Nepal who already have very little.



On arrival in Beijing we were met by Sonia, our guide for Beijing. We took our bags to drop them off at the hotel for our day tour. We were offered an upgrade to the premier level 'so decided why not? We left our bags and then headed up to the 12th floor for a coffee. We were pleasantly surprised that there was also a buffet breakfast awaiting. We drank our fill of tea and coffee and stuffed our faces with yummy food before heading off on today's tour.



Our first stop was Tianamen Square. It was heavily guarded, we needed to go through security checks to enter the world's largest public square. There was so much security and surveillance around the square. There really wasn't much to the square. I guess I was a bit disappointed by the whole thing. From Tianamen Square, we entered the Forbidden City. It is the largest palace complex in the world. For 500 years, the palace was off limits to all but the emperors. There were a lot of courtyards and buildings known as 'Harmony', kind of ironic really. The Gates of Supreme Harmony, Hall of Supreme Harmony, Hall of Middle Harmony, Hall of Preserving Harmony etc. Then they also had the Palace of Heavenly Purity and Palace of Earthly Tranquility. There were lots of beautiful buildings and statues, roofs and a lot of people. They used to have gargoyles with a small hole in them for the water to pour from the courtyards. The art work etc was lovely. From the Forbidden City, we had a quick look at the Imperial Garden. A garden that was once set aside as a place for the wives of the emperor. They were bored as they had nothing to do in their lives in the Forbidden City.



From the Imperial Garden, we headed to Jingshan Park. This hill was made from the excavated earth to make the moat of the Forbidden CIty. The hill, according to Feng Shui protects the palace from evil spirits., or dust storms from the north. There was a good view over the Forbidden City but not much could be seen of Beijing as the smog was quite thick. There is a tree in the grounds that stands where the last Ming Emperor hung himself before being taken over by rebels. There were lots of beautiful flower beds too. A good place to watch people go about their business.



The last stop for the day was to the Temple of Heaven Park.There is a long square wall with a gate at each compass point. Historically it was used for solemn events performed by the son of heaven(the emperor). He would pray here for good harvests, atonement and divine clearance. It is based on confucian design where the human intellect is imposed on the natural world. There is a square boundary because it was thought that the world was square. Inside the square is the circular platform based on the notion that the heaven is round. in the centre of the circle is a small raised circle (altar) where it is said that you can talk to heaven. This was called the Imperial Vault. The whole system worked around the number 9. ( and all the odd numbers are said to posses heavenly significance. Nine is the largest dingle odd number. AT the top there is a huge mosaic with 9 rings. , each composed with multiples of 9 stones., so that the last stone is 81. The stairs and balustrades are also in 9s.



There was also a beautiful building that looked like a temple which was the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests. An amazing structure that was built without a single nail. It was hit by lightning in 1889 as it was the tallest building in the area. A reproduction now stands in it's place which was built in the same Ming style, the year after it burnt down.





There was also an echo wall and an animal killing pavilion for sacrifices. . In the park next to the Temple of heaven park, many people were out and about practising their music skills. After the park, we headed back to the hotel for a well earned shower and rest. We had dinner in the premier lounge that consisted of spring rolls, hot chips and a range of cakes, knocked over by a couple of bottle of wine. We were all looking forward to a good nights rest.

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Photos

Our little communist friend
Tianamen Square