Completing the Beijing Trifecta

(Lauren)

Beijing Day 3

First on today's agenda was a trip to Beijing's famous Temple of Heaven. When we got to the temple, we were immediately besieged by vendors selling cheap children's toys. Surprisingly, the toys were very popular amongst thelocal Chinese. Many of the Chinese elders used the small park in front of the main temple as a local gathering place to socialize and exercise. On our way through the park, we were confronted with the spectacle of old Chinese people dancing to pop music. They were all very good and totally in-sync.


Later on, we stopped to watch a group of taichi dancers. The dancers all had rackets and balls, which they balanced while practicing taichi moves. I have no idea how they managed to keep the balls on the rackets for some of the moves, which involved flipping the racket upside down without dropping the ball. Again, almost all of the dancers were completely synchronized. Sandy decided to buy a pair of rackets and balls from one of the vendors so that we could all try to do some of the moves. No one was able to keep the ball on the racket at all!

Once we had our fill of watching the taichi dancers, we made our way to the actual Temple of Heaven. The temple was originally built in 1420 under Emperor Yongle of the Ming Dynasty. At first the temple, originally named the "Great Hall for Sacrificial Rituals," was meant solely for the worship of the Earth and Heaven. It was rebuilt in 1545 into a round hall (which is how it remains today). The hall was divided into thirds - the top third was covered in blue tiles (symbolizing Heaven), the middle third was covered in yellow tiles (symbolizing the Emperor and Earth) and the bottom third was covered in green tiles (symbolizing the Underworld).

The temple took on its final design in 1751 under the Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty with the addition of a triple-roof. Its function also changed from being a place to perform sacrifices to being a place to pray for good harvests.

Throughout its long history, the Temple of Heaven has almost always been closed to the public. Built to be a place for the emperor to worship privately, it is a colossal structure many times larger than the Forbidden City (271 hectares of land versus 71). China's common people had no chance to see Beijing's most magnificent temple. It was not opened until 1918, after Sun Yat-Sen's revolution had forced the last Qing emperor to abdicate in 1911.

For us, seeing the temple after visiting the Forbidden City and the Great Wall in our previous two days here completed the trifecta of Beijing's "must-sees." I especially liked it because its splendor, although similar to the Forbidden City, was more concentrated. Although the total area the temple takes up is larger than that of the city, it is only one building ( and much taller than any of the buildings in the city). Therefore, the temple's beauty is more readily obvious - making it one of my personal favorites!

After finishing up at the Temple of Heaven, we drove for about an hour to see the Tibetan Cultural Museum, which had only opened on March 28. Unfortunately, when we arrived, we learned from a security guard that the prior "opening" was only for organizations, and the museum was still closed to the generall public. We were disappointed (Sandy in particular), but at that moment, one of the directors of the International Office walked in. She told us that although the museum was not officially open, she would make an exception for us!

Since the museum staff was taking their lunch break, we headed out for a quick noodle lunch, which was very nice. Then we went back to the museum for our own private tour! The director handed us over to her Tibetan friend, who proceeded to take us through the exhibits. While seeing the history and culture of Tibet was very interesting, I was really intrigued by the portrayal of the 1959 liberation movement. A display that had really not been at all political up till that point suddenly got very defensive. The dire condition of serfs in Tibet was emphazied pre-liberation, and the government made it clear that the liberation was peaceful and wanted, and the only dissent came from a small number of separatists funded by the British!

After spending several hours in the museum, we thanked our guide and headed back to the main part of Beijing to go shopping. Then, we went out for a nice dumpling dinner for our "last supper" in China.

Tomorrow, we go to see Chairman Mao, and then home to Boston! See you all soon :)