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Published: June 21st 2011
6/20, Monday
Breakfast in the hotel—wide variety of dishes, tea already brewed in a big pot. Eventually, even the last two students got up. Bought big bottles of water in the hotel shop and changed some large yuan bills for smaller ones.
Well, we met at 11 and headed out. First stop was just down the road from the hotel: the Temple of Heaven, an enormous park and altar to Heaven. Each winter solstice, the Ming and Qing emperors would lead a procession here to perform rites and make sacrifices designed to promote the next year's crops and curry favor with Heaven for the general health of the empire. We paraded in, following Willy, with a flag so we could find him in the crowd, dodging and ignoring peddlers, beggars and (probably) pickpockets. This was our first ancient site and we were duly impressed! The 3 tiers represent heaven, earth, and the human. There are 3 gates, 3 tiers, etc. The Temple was constructed with no nails, all dovetails, 28 columns (4 seasons, 12 months, 12 divisions of the day/night—they had 2 hour divisions). Yellow is the Imperial color; blue is for the sky. The Emperor went in alone
and comes out and relays god’s message. The Temple has been repaired three times since 1935-36; the side buildings which were once the fasting palace and the official kitchen are now used to display the history of the site and the architecture and restoration activities. The grounds are gorgeous, with trees as ancient as the Temple.
Next, we started the long march (pun intended). We were dropped off at the old Gates of the city so that we could go through Tian’an Men Square and the Forbidden City. We were told we’d be walking for about 3 hours and it’d be about 94 degrees. Both were correct…
Tian’an Men Square is the world's largest public square (the size of 90 American football fields). In the center of the square stands the Monument to the People's Heroes (Renmin Yingxiong Jinian Bei), a 124-ft.granite obelisk erected in 1958, engraved with scenes from famous uprisings. It is the center of the city, geographically and physically. Men means date and Tian means heavenly peace (too bad it hasn’t been the scene of muchof that!). Originally built in 1513 and rebuilt in 1750 in a “T” shape, it has always been home to
government buildings. It’s the biggest concrete square in the world. In 1919 the May 4th movement began here (university students), the Dec 9 movement began here (vs Chiang Kai Shek) the Cultural Revolution began here in 1966, the 5th April 1976 demonstration of respect for Chou en Lai was held here, the Gang of Four was arrested here, and in 1989 was the most recent student activity in the square. Mao Tse-Tung’s mausoleum is on the square flanked by large statues of the people. The Center building is the meeting place of the People’s Congress (10,000 strong, meets annually in Feb/Mar). Any building with the five star emblem is a government building. The stars stand for: the Communist Party (big star), farmers, intellectuals, soldiers, and workers.
The first building in the series that comprises the Forbidden City is the one fronted with the huge picture of Mao that’s very famous. We got our picture taken, as a group, in front of it. The picture comes in the front of a book of pictures of Beijing. It’ll be a nice souvenir.
We continued by walking through a tunnel under the very busy road to get to the Forbidden City,
a massive complex of red-walled buildings and pavilions topped by a sea of glazed vermilion tile. It is by far the largest and most intricate imperial palace in China and receives more visitors than any other attraction in the country. We saw the Inner Court, where only the emperor, his family, his concubines, and the palace eunuchs were allowed; the Hall of Mental Cultivation, where emperors lived after Yongzheng moved out of the Qianqing Gong; Hall of Preserving Harmony, used for banquets and the Imperial tests, and ended in the Imperial Garden, quiet, peaceful, shaded, quite lovely. Each time we walked through an archway into another courtyard and looking at a new “Hall”, it was more elaborate than the last. The side halls were used as offices for the bureaucrats and military. Every morning, a bell sounded as the clerks, etc., began work; a drum signaled the end of the day. No one except the Imperial family lived on site. “The Last Emperor” was filmed here onsite; he lived here until 1924; in 1925 he was removed and it was opened to the public. It’s called the Forbidden City because it’s as large as a City and the people were
forbidden entry. The yellow glazed tiles are because yellow is the color of the emperor. At the initial entry, there are five marble bridges; only the Emperor and the top 3 test scorers could walk over the middle bridge. There were 9,999 rooms (9 is the best number) because heaven has 10,000 rooms and the emperor should have the next best thing. The iron pots were to hold water against fire; they were never used for this purpose, more superstitious. The City itself is protected by man-made moats. The Pavilion behind the city is on top of the hill made from the dirt from the moats. The last Ming emperor killed himself up on that hill. The last emperor, Puyi, was very young (5) when he became emperor. Cixi, the “Dragon Lady” was the power behind him; since women were not allowed in the palace, the emperor “told” her that he wanted to meet with his advisors in one of the outer palaces; even then, she had to be behind a screen. Emperors have 81 wives (again, the number ‘9’ is best): 9 official wives and 72 concubines. Wives had to use the North entrance/exit. South is always the preferred
Inside Lobby
Drew Strong, BRCC Nursing Associate Professor, one of the others on the tripdirection to open. There are always three doors (heaven, earth, human) but the middle one is kept closed because demons can’t change direction, they can only go straight. Also, thresholds are high because demons don’t have knees and so can’t enter. The emperor liked the gardens in the south of China so he had some of their rocks and plantings brought north (700 miles) via the Grand Canal (which had been dug by hand in the 6th century). Rock is yang; water is ying. Sun Yat Sen allowed the last emperor to stay in the Forbidden City; Chiang Kai Chek expelled him. The eunuchs, the last emperor, and Chiang Kai Chek all stole treasures from the Forbidden City.
My camera’s battery died about the last hall, before Cixi’s rooms and the garden so I’ll get pics from fellow travelers later (Thanks to Drew for pictures!). By the time we left the garden, we were shot! Hot, tired, sweaty, exhausted, hungry, maybe a bit jet-lagged. But there was more!!
Notes from as we drove around Beijing on our way to tea ceremony demonstration and tasting (and buying): 7-9 a.m. and 5-7 p.m. is the heaviest traffic. There are 20
million people living in Beijing; 20-25% have cars. There is lots of reasonably priced public transportation. People no longer ride bikes to work—it’s too far; they ride bikes to the subway and proceed from there to work. The ladies with yellow uniforms and flags are there to crowd people onto the busses during rush hour. 93% of Chinese are Han; Ming was Han; Yuan were Mongol, didn’t treat the Han well at all. Manchurians treated the Han better, made peace and so stayed in power longer. Mongolians were surprised at the quantity of water in the Beijing area and named everything ‘ocean’ or ‘sea’, although it wasn’t near either.
Tea ceremony: A very efficient and informative young lady told us how to make tea, how to drink it using the little tea sets. We had 4 kinds: oolong/ginseng; Jasmine/green; Pu-er black tea (good for diet, cholesterol); jasmine/lotus flower. Then most of us bought tea, mugs, etc.
Then it was time to enjoy a Peking Duck Dinner. We actually had numerous dishes, served on a huge lazy susan: appetizers of duck eggs surrounded by duck meat then thinly sliced, thin beef, lettuce salad, duck soup, fried rice, something chicken
Temple of Heaven
entry sign--this is one way I'm remembering what place is what! with a chili peppers that I mistook for bell peppers; lots of other dishes, and the centerpiece of Peking Duck. The duck was carved table side, the maitre d’ showed us how to make the pancakes and we dug in. Delicious! Again, pics will have to wait till I share.
Suffice to say, we hit the hotel and I, at any rate, pretty much showered and crashed--I was asleep by 7:15. Slept soundly, for sure!
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Hillary
non-member comment
I guess you're sleeping now (should have just hit wednesday morning, I think). Sounds like you're busy but soaking in alot, good to hear!