Beijing - Day 2: The Temple of Heaven

Our schedule for our second day in Beijing was remarkedly light, with an unrushed wakeup and excursion not far from the hotel and ciy center. The objective: The Temple of Heaven . Built in the 15th Century during the Ming dynasty as a Taoist complex, the central temple has a distinctive circular design.

The Temple of Heaven is the largest of four related temples in Beijing, along with the Temple of the Sun, the Temple of the Moon, and the Temple of Earth, which we did not visit. These are collectively known as the Four Great Temples of Beijing, which honored celestial bodies in ancient China. The Temple of Heaven was where the emperor would pray for a good harvest. This continued with the following (and final) dynasty, the Qing. Here endeth your lesson.

Entry into the temple complex

These two temple buildings, now a museum, surround the central temple. Inside the museum is both a history of the temple and a history of its restoration efforts.

Left: Photographs of before and after the early 20th century restoration. Right: A model of the temple's structure.

Pictures of three emperors: one MIng and two Qing. I think.

A more distant view of the temple and a closer one.

View of the inside of the temple. We were not allowed to enter this day.

Left: The altar inside the temple. Right: A view of one of the entry gates.

As always, I've included pictures of the costumes worn by other visitors.

After our visit, we all had a late lunch, in the now familiar format of courses served family style on a lazy susan. And, as always, despite how good the food was, the quantity was too much for us to consume. No one ever goes away hungry. Beer was offered (no additional cost) at these lunches. While Frances and I are not regular beer drinkers, the brews were quite light, so were excellent at helping us wash down these meals. Right: Yet another view of the skyscrapers near our hotel. Omitted from my blog are the many classical and otherwise attractive buildings in Beijing that we passed.

For our evening meal, we had not signed up for the optional cost Peking duck experience (we had Peking duck several times already this trip), so used one of our coupons in the hotel's restaurant. For the first time on the land portion of this trip, we went western, each ordering a hamburger meal. Well, almost western. The meat was Wagyu beef and it was (with the accompanying sides) too much to eat for Frances. I had no such problem.

There remained two major excursion for our stay in Beijing. The first of these, Tiananmen Square and The Forbidden City, awaits us for the next day.