Advertisement
Published: April 7th 2016
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, waffels, dumplings, Wantons, a variety of breads and cheeses and of course several cups of cappucino. We were ready to go.
Our first stop this morning was to a local sacred site called the Temple of Heaven. This complex was either dedicated to the Buddhists or the Taoists, our guide did not remember which. It was here that heaven and earth came together.
Temple of Heaven
Tai Chi in the park outside the temple groundsThe outer walls of the temple were square, representing Earth. The inner section was a circle representing Heaven. Hence, the Temple of Heaven.
It was here, during the winter solstice each year that the current Emperor came to pray and offer sacrifices to the gods in hopes of a good harvest. There were sacrifices, animal not human, burning of incense to bring pleasure to the gods and some feasting and much praying. The complex itself is three times larger than the Forbidden City, so it was HUGE.
As is always the case in China we entered the temple through a series of gates, each brought us closer and closer to the central temple and the most sacred spot. The first section opened into a large round ,raised temple where, in the exact center, heaven and earth meet. Of course this is the spot for a picture, which many availed themselves of the opportunity. Including me.
Further in, the area becomes more sacred and ornate until you reach the main temple of Heaven, in which the Emperor and his guests met with the gods and prayed for a good harvest. Sometimes it worked and sometimes not so much.
Temple of Heaven
Learning from Jo our teacher This huge extravagant complex was used only three days a year at the Winter Solstice. If the harvest was good, they came back next year. If the harvest was poor, the Emperor would make a return trip in mid season to ask more humbly for the gods to interceed.
Outside the actual temple complex is a large well appointed par, much like we see in New York's Central Par, except bigger, much bigger. Here we were treated to a variety of sights and sounds as people strolled and exercised on the square.
One form of exercise was a kind of square dance/ball room dance combination. The people were in rows, with a partner, danced to beautiful Chinese music played on a boom box. Their movies were studied and intricate, and was a joy to see. They were open to allowing others to join. Most of us were not brave enough to join in, except for John. John is a great guy, and also a big guy who just can't dance. He did however jump in and showed his moves. He had fun and all the locals had a wonderful laugh. We said that theChinese were doing Tai Chi,
Temple of Heaven
Inner gate
The temple is a Square (earth) and a circle (heaven) while John was instructing them in IT-CHI (pronounced itchy).
There were other forms of exercise including, hacky sack and a game played with a ball and paddle. Now these were in now way games of competion. Instead they were elegant moves combining Tai Chi and dance in a pattern that was beautiful and complicated. A great form of exercise designed to exercise the mind and body as well as improve coordination and health. We westerners could learn a few things.
Our next stop was the site of the old Summer Olympics held in Beijing many years ago. The site had some very interesting architecture but was mostly in a state of disuse. As the group headed off to see the buildings, I ducked out to do some shopping!
This was a shopping bonanza. The place was virtually empty with no one in the shops, so the owners were itching for a buyer, and I walked right in. The shops were filled with many different items, mostly aimed at tourists, but everything I saw I had not seen so far, so it was all new to me. Within 15 minutes, the alloted time before I had to head
Temple of Heaven
The inner sacred circle back to the bus I was able to negotiate the following, a beautiful hand painted Chinese opera mask made of porcelain, a Terra Cotta warrior made from the same materials as the origional, three Chinese zodiac pictures depicting the zodiac symbol for my two boys and my wife. They did not have my year so I am still looking for that. Lily and Alla, my two lovely daughters in law, I need you birth years so I can get yours, so send me a message! I was able to secure these purchases for a total of $300 CYN (or about $50). Back to the bus with my haul and off to lunch.
Today we dined, family style of course, at a local restaurant located inside a very upscale mall. The meal was once again outstanding with two soups, many dishes of meats, vegetables, noodles and of course beer! It seems that the folks I dine with all like the local beer so we often buy a few extra bottles to pass the time as conversation and eating are enjoyed to the fullest.
We were told by our guide, Jo, that we will get to our next hotel around
Temple of Heaven
Standing in the dead center of the world
9PM so eat a hearty lunch as there is no dinner today. NO PROBLEM. We ate our full and headed back to the bus for our departure from Beijing and our flight to Xian. Side note. Those following along I must make a confession. Last night I reported we were going to another city not Xian today. That was a mistake. Sorry.
Our flight from Beijing to Xian would take two hours, so we hustled to the airport, went smoothly through security, except for Mike who seemed to have some trouble with camera batteries and camera lenses. We all met at gate C 26 and boarded our flight without further incident.
Arrival was very smooth, bags were quickly claimed and we were back in our new bus within 30 minutes of arrival. It was dark, so there was not much to see except for smog. Despite what our guide was telling us, this was her home town so she was being protective of it I am sure, the smog here was much worse than Beijing. It hung low over the airport and covered our windshield as we drove to the center of town. It was so bad that
Temple of Heaven
Holy Pagoda in the center I could actually taste it.
On our journey we passed some interesting shopping areas which specialized in Street Foods and items for the locals to buy. As we passed these places we were admonished by Jo "not to eat the street food." We arrived at our new hotel, we would be her for two nights, and checked in quite quickly. We headed to our rooms to drop off our bags, then John, Rick and I headed for a walk through the streets of Xian.
Remember our guide told us "not to eat the street food"? Yup you guessed it, the first thing we did was eat the street food. Our first purchase turned out to be our last purchase. Let me explain.
We passed may stands selling various meats and strange looking things cooked either on a grill or in boiling water. These we knew to stay away from. We then came to some fruits, like apples and pears and such. These were way too normal. Next we came to the spices area and really had no needs to eat that. I happened across a stand selling dried fruits and what looked like dried dates. Now I
love dates and for 1 CYN (about 16 cents) I picked 5 of the dried sweets. I offered one to John who accepted and one to Rick, who smartly refused.
I popped one in my mouth an bit in, expecting the sweet taste of dates. Boy was I wrong. What John and I experienced could only be described as biting into a dry, ball of fibrous nothing. It was terrible. Our concern now was, did we just eat something you were supposed to eat or was this something that you cooked or used as a food additive? We had no idea so we decided not to eat the remaining "fruits" in my pocket. Wise move.
We walked along joking and laughing until we came to the seedier side of town. It was a little darker, a might less crowded. We happened across a store front set a little back from the side walk with a beautiful woman, in a very slinky dress, sitting most provocatively. You could probably guess what she was selling. We figured we had seen enough, so we decided to head back and ask Jo what exactly we had eaten.
When we got back
Temple of Heaven
Inside the holy Site to the hotel I decided it was not a good idea to ask Jo what we had eaten since she did say not to eat the street food in the first place. I was able to chase down a local behind the front desk of the hotel that spoke English, and showed him our purchase. At first he made a face and really screwed up his eyes indicating "you ate that!" We were worried.
He started pounding on the computer, we assumed looking for an antidote to the poison we just injested, but instead he told us the name of a fruit of which we never heard of before. Ok so we didn't poison ourselves, thank the gods. He told us that the fruit was a sweet treat and that we should enjoy it. I told him it was not sweet and tasted terrible. He asked if we bought it on the street or at the store. I said the street, and he replied "that's why." OK so no more street food, I promise. (I had my fingers crossed behind my back!)
Good night all. Tomorrow we are off to see the Terra Cotta Army and to visit with a family that lives in a cave! More fun ahead.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.062s; Tpl: 0.018s; cc: 10; qc: 25; dbt: 0.0372s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Joe
non-member comment
Keep them coming!
Just got the chance to binge on your first week's blogs. Thanks, and keep them coming! Have a great rest of the trip.