11 November 2011
Temple of Heaven
Might as well keep going to tourist attractions.
Actually apparently it gets very busy on weekends at the major tourist sites, so you might get 2 days of respite from photos of pagodas and such thing.
I decided to walk to the temple of heaven, this took a bit over an hour, and went through many construction sites. The amount of construction going on is staggering, and I think this is the reason everything is so dusty.
Weather today is a bit cloudy, combined with increasing pollution this creates a strange twighlight.
The actual temple is quite small, and I am not convinced how real it is, generally everything has been rebuilt many times, but I suspect parts of this one were rebuilt some time last tuesday.
At one point I became aware that everyone was standing around looking at their watches (Hello!, watch?), and then I remembered it was 11:11:11 11/11/11
Colorful street view from an overpass on the way there.
The entrance gate, theres a small fee to get in but I think Chinese people can scan their national ID card and get in for free.
Perhaps just as interesting as the temple are the activities Chinese citizens get up to. The main activity today is badmington using your foot instead of a racquet, but also theres mass line dancing to Britney Spears - hit me baby one more time.
Dont be under the impression that temples are quiet and you have to be respectful, Chinese idol is going on everywhere with people who have brought full P.A. systems competing for volume.
The main temple.
More temple.
Close up temple, you cant go inside it, but theres also nothing much inside it.
Walkway to the next part of the temple, part of it was being re laid, and the sealer was being applied by an army of old folks.
This is a different smaller temple. Theres stories explaining what they were for, and also what various parts were ripped down and rebuilt for. Often because the new emperor didnt agree with the old emperors taste in temples.
Its me! It is a bit cooler today due to lack of sun, but no jacket is required.
The gardens around the temples are very nice, if you like autumn leaves you would be very excited. Some people travel to Japan or Canada just to see leaves change color.
After leaving the compound, I got lost looking for the subway, and ended up at this street market in the middle of nowhere. These sorts of things only I find, unless you walk for miles to no particular place, you would just go from temple to temple and back to your hotel by taxi or onto the bus following the fool with the flag and loud speaker.