Temple of Heaven

This was our last day in China, with another day packed full of adventure before heading back to the airport.

Here's a few pictures of the view from our room.

A portion of the old City wall.

High rises as far as the eye can see.

Immediately surrounding the hotel were some traditional Chinese homes.

Our last stop was the Temple of Heaven.  In ancient China, the Emperor was regarded as the Son of Heaven, who was essentially the "go between" between heaven and earth.  It was important to show respect to the source of his authority, in the form of sacrifices to heaven, which were made at this temple.  Twice a year, the Emperor and all his people would move from the Forbidden city through Beijing to live within the complex. In the temple complex the Emperor would personally pray to Heaven for good harvests. There are beautiful gardens surrounding the temple complex.  It is a gathering place for the Chinese where they play games, practice their Tai-chi, and arrange marriages.

I don't know what this guy was all about, but we sure got a kick out of his antics!

I just found this sign to be rather funny.

Their version of hackey sack

It is a rubbery disk with metal disks above it that cause it to make noise, and topped off with feathers.

They play card games,

board games,

(I'm not sure what this one was, but it appeared to be along the lines of checkers or chess)

and dominoes to name a few.

Tai-chi with fans.

My brave knight

A ring toss game using humans as the poles.

This guy was a famous ring-tosser dude.

He really enjoyed sharing his sport with the kids.

My kids are awesome - I'm so glad they love each other (most of the time, at least)

Practicing their tai-chi

The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests

It is a circular building with blue tiles, which both represent heaven.

It is built on a square platform, which is representative of earth.

There are four pillars at the center, representing the four seasons,

Twelve pillars in the middle and outer rings,  representing the twelve months of the year and the twelve traditional Chinese hours.

The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests where the Emperor prayed for good harvests.

The building is completely wooden, with no nails. The original building was burned down by a fire caused by lightning in 1889, but was re-built several years later.

You can buy "Lolex" watches really cheap here.

Of course, you never know how long they will work, but they are cheap...

This guy followed David forever.  David really offended him when he said he'd give him $5 for two of them, and he left for a while, but finally tracked him down again.  So, after much debate, we got matching "Rolex" watches for a whopping $10.

This is a place where Chinese people gather to find suitable mates for their children.

Although Charlie, our tour guide, said that arranged marriages aren't necessarily the norm anymore, some still hold on to the tradition and meet here, laying out the "resumes" of their loved ones for others to view.

Some "resumes", including such facts as age and height.

With my extensive knowledge of the Chinese alphabet, that's about what I could get out of the papers.

We have one last experience to share about our trip, and that is a Tea House, but that is another post tomorrow...