Stairway to Heaven
Beijing, China
June 07, 2009
We were up late today, 8 am. We had breakfast at 9 am. I had fruit, a muffin, toast with peanut butter and honey, all bran with raisins and peanut butter, sausage, tomato with herb crust and tea. Bill had an omelette, watermelon, bacon, croissant, walnut bread, juice and tea.
We watched Home Alone 2 in the room, which clearly illustrates our total lack of enthusiasm. We even watched part of Erin Brockovich. Ever since we ate that duck, it has sucked the life out of us! We used the internet upstairs before leaving the building too.
We took subway line 5 south to the Temple of Heaven. we entered from the East Gate Temple of Heaven. It was 80 yuan for the ticket and a map with some information about the temple.
The Temple of Heaven is Taoist and is on 273 hectares of land - I am not sure what that is in acres, but it sounds big and did take a long time to walk around! It is the temple where the Ming and Qing Emperors worshipped heaven and earth (prayed for bumper crops). It was built during the Ming Dynasty and was completed in 1420 by Emperor Yongle. Yes, that is correct, he was the one who built the Forbidden City too. He was a busy guy!
The Northern wall of the complex is rounded (circular) to represent heaven and the Southern wall is squared to represent earth. This symbolism can be found throughout the grounds.
The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest (guess what they did in this building...) is round, has 3 gables and has a blue roof Marble carving. You have to climb 3 levels of marble staircase to reach the temple. It is a beautiful building. The first level of the stairs is the clouds, the second level is phoenix and the third level is the dragon. They are depicted with stone tablets, balustrades and gargoyles. The building is wooden and does not have any nails.
We then went into the East Annex Hall of the Hall for Good Harvest. It had some history of the temple, but not much was in English. The West Annex had an exhibit of the ceremony.
We then walked around the temple and through the Heaven Gate. We walked up to the Imperial Hall of Heaven which was built in 1420. It served as the Heavenly Warehouse of the alter of prayers of harvest. The Emperor burned incense here the day before the harvest ceremony in front of the tablets of his ancestors and god of heaven. The tablets were then moved to the Hallo of Prayer for Good Harvest in preparation for the ceremony.
We walked through the Gate of Prayer for Good Harvest (are you seeing a theme yet?) and across the Danbi Bridge and the Red Stairway Bridge.
We passed the Dressing Terrace or "Little Golden Palace". This is where the Emperor washed his hands and changed into the blue sacrificial clothes before the ceremony.
We walked through the Cheng Zhen Gate and around the Echo Wall. There were some crazies yelling at the wall. I guess Bill joined them too. I refrained...
The Imperial Vault of Heaven symbolizes god's residence. It is a single gable round building and was built in 1530. It is surrounded by the Echo Wall. Crazy Chinese were yelling at the wall to hear the echo and my crazy husband joined in. The heavenly ceremonies took place here. There are East and West Annex buildings that flank the Vault.
The Circular Mound Alter was built in 1530 by Jiajing Emperor and rebuilt in 1740. It was used during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. It was the site where heaven was worshipped on the winter solstice each year. There are 3 tiers, marble balustrades and 4 stairwells. In the center there is a Yi Zhao Cong or Heavenly Center Stone or the Supreme Ultimate Stone (how do they come up with this stuff??). It is said to have good acoustics and "mysteriously wonderful, good for communication with the gods". It is where the Emperor would read the prayers of "god of heaven".
At the base there is a green ceramic firewood stove. This is where a washed and shaved calf would be sacrificed before the ceremony to welcome the imperial god.
We walked around the outside and ate some peanuts and almonds.
We paid an extra 20 yuan to visit the Fasting Palace. We had to enter on the North side. It was built in 1420. The Emperor would come here 3 days before the ceremony to abstain from meat, drink, music and women.
We were able to go through the Beamless Hall that was built in 1420. It is supported by brick arches. Different rituals were performed here. There were exhibits inside - a spiky bell, a throne with lions and elephants on either side, bronze and ceramic statues and pavilions to carry tablets.
The Bedroom Hall was closed. The Bell Tower housed a (yep you guessed it) bell and had evil eyes below the rafters.
Back in the area outside the Fasting Palace we saw the Double Ring Pavilion. It was built for Emperor Qing Long's mother's Birthday.
We were going to tour the Diving Kitchen and the Butcher House, but they were closed.
We went across the street toward Hong Qiao Market, the Pearl Market. We stopped at KFC first. Bill had three pieces of chicken, fries and a 7-up. I had a beef wrap (similar to something from Taco Bell, but not spiced as well).
At the market we bargained our butts off. We purchased an orange Ralph Lauren shirt, a navy Roxy shirt, a shirt with a tree with blossoms and Chinese writing and 3 Custo shirts for 200 yuan ($30+), 6 pairs of socks for 20 yuan ($3), a belt for 25 yuan ($4), an orange Ralph Lauren shirt with a collar, 2 dress shirts (blue and white, white with green, brown and yellow), True Religion jeans and 8 undies for 275 yuan ($45), 2 Ralph Lauren shirts with a collar and a Paul Smith shirt with a collar for 100 yuan ($15+). We also bought a gift for the ladies who packed up our house!!
We were so focused on our purchases that we took the subway the wrong direction. We had to get off and pay again (an extra 4 yuan or less than $1). We then of course took the wrong exit when we arrived at our stop which made for an extra long walk...
It was 6:00, so we dumped our new treasures off in the room and went upstairs. We had meatballs, chicken, beef salad, chips, soda and wine. We used the internet for a while...
At 9:00 we watched 27 Dresses and ate our microwave sugar popcorn!
