A quick trip to China leaves us longing for more

[Aussie Wendy]

No clapping? WOW! I don't think I could have helped myself at all with live performers. I always clap.

Dinner looks delish. Did the restaurant fill up after a while?

Yes it did. We dined early as we knew we'd be hungry after all day walking and climbing. DD took that pic while it was quiet when we walked in. It was probably about half full when we were eating so for mid week in an "off" season not too bad for them I guess.

 

[Aussie Wendy]

Day 4 Thursday

The Temple of Heaven

Today was a day that didn’t go quite to plan – you get them! The result of my trying to cram too much in with the result that I probably achieved less than if I hadn’t tried to be so silly.

After another delicious breaky we headed out into yet another clear, blue sky day. It was even a bit warmer so we were able to leave our big jackets behind. First destination was the Temple of Heaven. This is set in a big park that was full of locals practicing Tai Chi and other martial arts, cracking whips, flying kites, walking dogs and along one long corridor groups playing cards, dominoes and mahjong and gossiping. They were set up for the day even with a cloth tied around the rail to hold the pieces.





[URL='http://s1203.photobucket.com/user/gecko290/media/China%202017/4%20Walkways%20lined%20with%20card%20and%20domino%20players%20%20DSC07417%20800x533.jpg.html']The park covers 273 ha and is larger than the Forbidden City – as the ‘Sons of Heaven’ Chinese emperors were precluded from building a dwelling for themselves that was greater than the earthly residence dedicated to Heaven hence the difference in size. The temple is enclosed by a long wall. The northern part within the wall is semicircular symbolising the heavens and the southern part is square symbolising the earth. The northern part is higher than the southern part showing that heaven is high and the earth is low and the design reflected an ancient Chinese thought of 'the heaven is round and the earth is square'.

Tai Chi



And something involving poles



Kite flying



Some history for you. The Temple of Heaven was first constructed in 1420 under the Ming Emperor Yongle and like so many places we saw here, was extended and renovated later by the Ming Emperor Jiajing and Qing Emperor Qianlong after it was damaged by lightening. The current structures date from 16th century. Starting from Emperor Yongle, every year the Emperor would come to the Temple of Heaven to hold ceremonies to worship the Heaven. In order to safeguard the "divine right of emperor" and show the divine authority, the ancient worshipping ceremony was highly emphasised with extremely strict precepts and a great deal of preparation work.

Any error would be severely punished. All the roads and buildings in the Temple of Heaven had to be renewed on a large scale. Five days before the ceremony, all the livestock to be sacrificed during the ceremony had be carefully checked; three days before the ceremony, the emperor began to fast; two days before, prayer words should be written; on the last day, livestock should be slaughtered; sacrifices should be made and the ceremonial articles should be established. On the last day, the emperor must read the prayer, give a ritual at the Imperial Vault of Heaven, watch the divine tablets at the Circular Mound Alter, check the ceremonial articles in the Divine Storeroom, see the sacrifices at the Divine Kitchen, and then go back to the Palace of Abstinence for fasting; on the eve officers must straighten out the tablets, the ceremonial articles as well as the sacrifices. Besides all this, the music should be ready. Lastly, the officials of Ritual Department would perform an overall check. Whew!

The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest should look familiar to Disboarders as it is replicated in EPCOT. Here the Emperor gave thanks at the summer and winter solstices.



Closer view of the outside



View of the lovely bluey purple roof tiles. In the ancient times, people saw the sky was round and the temple construction mimicked “heaven”, thus they have round roofs. In the same way, as the sky is blue, the roofs of the buildings are also painted blue.



View inside. The wooden pillars support the ceiling with no nails or cement. Each element is symbolic eg the four central pillars represent the seasons, the outer pillars the months of the year and the 12 watches of the day.



The Emperor did make a sacrifice so is that the reason for the cows?



Close up of the detail including the carving and painting on the rafters and beams.


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[Aussie Wendy]

On to the Imperial Vault of the Heavens

Carved water spouts drain the upper terraces



One of the side areas



We walked the wrong direction as you should start in the south and walk north to follow the Emperor; we did the opposite as the subway and gate was closest to the north. Thus we walk through the gate leading to the Hall of Prayer.



And follow the Red Stairway Bridge that leads to the Imperial Vault of the Heavens. This is raised 4m above the ground. There are three hierarchical paths here – the central stone road in this photo is the Sacred Road for God. The east brick one (so right in pic) was the Imperial Road for the Emperors and the western brick one was the Noble Road for the Imperial chancellors and attendants. The north end is higher than the south, supposedly to make one feel like stepping into a celestial palace as you walk up. The Emperor was carried in a sedan chair made of jade accompanied by his retinue but no member of the public were allowed to watch the procession of the Imperial entourage during the ritual.



A picture of the Nine Dragon Juniper, over 500 years old. So called as the trunk is covered in spiral grooves which twist up as if nine coiling dragons were wreathing up into the sky.



The gate to the Imperial Vault of Heavens where the Emperor consulted the tablet of his ancestors before climbing the steps of Circular Mound Altar to offer a sacrifice.



View of the Imperial Vault of Heavens surrounded by an echo wall. The wall is flat and smooth, which allows sound waves to theoretically pass smoothly.



More Imperial dragon ramps.



The decorative interior



And the dragon in the apex

 

[Aussie Wendy]

The Circular Mound Altar and Pearl Market

On the Circular Mound Altar, the most sacred part of the complex. This is a three tiered marble terrace representing man, earth and Heaven. The Emperor sacrificed and prayed before consulting Heaven how best to conduct his affairs of state. The altar is designed on the number 9 which is heavenly and closest to perfection so marble slabs on the terrace are in 9 concentric circles each comprising 9 stones.



DD on the central Heaven Heart stone which radiates sounds so that during the ceremonies Heaven would hear the oration.



Details on the surrounding terrace
http://s1203.photobucket.com/user/gecko290/media/China 2017/27 Round Altar DSC02679 600x800.jpg.html


Walking back through the park was very peaceful. This shows part of the wall that surrounds it.



The Seven meteorites (not really).

During the Ming Emperor Jiajing’s reign, seven gigantic 'pacifying' stones were placed to the southeast of the Hall of Prayer. These are stones with motifs of mountains engraved on them symbolizing the seven peaks of the Mountain Tai.



Not far from the eastern gate to the park is the Hongqiao (Pearl) market.



Each floor specialised in an item like scarves and bags on the lower floors. On the upper floors are the pearl traders (and the toilets including a western version labelled disabled but given all the cleaning supplies were in there not actually practical for the disabled). Scarves are a “daily necessity” you can see, therefore I purchased one.



Sellers were reasonably harassing but not too bad on the lower floors and left you alone the higher floor you went up. I have read that this is a good place to buy pearls provided you know your pearls as the quality does vary between stalls.

 

[PrincessInOz]

That's a great shopping market!

Love the Epcot knock-off pics. Stunning against the blue, blue sky!

 

[WanderlustNZ]

More great updates that are bringing back more great memories

 

[Aussie Wendy]

Getting confused

We had spent a lot longer in the Temple of Heaven and its huge park as well as just walking back to the east gate than I had planned plus wandering around the market. The sensible thing to do now was to have got lunch and head over to the Summer Palace. I had a yen to see the Lama Temple though so we caught the subway there. Firstly we walked the wrong way when getting out of the subway station. After going around in circles for a bit we finally found it. When I saw how big the complex was I realised that if we did this there would be no summer palace and we had seen similar in Japan several years earlier so I aborted plans. The entrance for anyone wondering.



I had read of a couple of eateries down nearby Guozijian St but they were nowhere to be found. The entrance to Guozijian St.



So we kept walking, past the Confucius Temple



Out onto Andingmen Inner St. Here we found a life-saver as we were seriously empty by now – Xian Lao Man, infamous for their dumplings. We got ourselves in a muddle with the ordering though. You were given a sheet of all the types of dumplings and other dishes and a pencil to tick what you wanted and what quantities of each you wanted and it said minimum order of each type 100 gms. Neither DD or I are very good at estimation – how much was 100 gms? We wanted a variety to try as they all sounded so good. FINALLY a waitress came and collected our order after we had kept waving it in the air for ages feeling ignored while they took everyone else's. We had ordered 2 of several types. Well you can guess – a serve of “1” consisted of about 5 dumplings so we had double everything. We also managed to mis-order and got the fried version not steamed.

So they started bringing out basket after basket after basket of dumplings – OMG!! I was worried as to what it might cost. Did I have enough yen on me? Tables nearby were getting ridiculous amounts of food delivered for just 4 people so our huge order probably didn’t seem out of place (the waste was incredible). So we ate til we burst then we saw they had take away containers. We stuffed 3 full as we couldn’t bear the waste. Luckily the bill was only about 100Y (or Aus$20). Yes, they tasted amazingly good by the way and I can highly recommend them.

After having eaten a lot already we bundled most of these up.
http://s1203.photobucket.com/user/g...s Temple we skipped DSC02690 800x592.jpg.html


But now we couldn’t go straight to the Summer Palace or drop by the Drum Tower first as I had hoped but had to find the subway and go all the way back to the hotel to put our dumplings in the fridge.

Much, much, much later than planned we were back on the subway for the hour long subway trip to the Summer Palace. I knew the buildings would be closed by the time we got there but hoped we could access the park and lake for a look-see which was said to be open til 5pm.

We got there around 3.30pm and lots of other people were still arriving so that didn’t seem to be an issue.

The origins of the Palace date back to the Jin dynasty in 1153 with the first lake created during the Yuan Dynasty in the late 1200’s. Around 1749 Emperor Qianlong built a palace near the lake to celebrate the 60th birthday of his mother the Empress Dowager Chongqing. Kunming Lake was expanded and the earth that was excavated was used to enlarge the small hill which was renamed Longevity Hill. Construction was completed in 1764.The design is based on a legend about three divine mountains in the East Sea with three islands constructed in the lake to represent the three mountains while the lake was based on West Lake in Hangzhou.

In 1860 at the end of the 2nd Opium war the Palace was damaged by the French and British and the British burnt down the nearby Old Summer Palace (built in 1800’s as the main residence for the Qianlong Emperor and his successors as he kept the Forbidden City just for affairs of state). In the 1880’s Empress Dowager Cixi ordered the Palace rebuilt to celebrate her 60th birthday using money designated for upgrading the navy. Due to limited funds construction centred on the buildings in front of the Hill and around the Lake. In 1900 near the end of the Boxer Rebellion, the Eight-Nation Alliance again damaged the palace destroying gardens and seizing artifacts. The Palace was turned in a public park after the last Emperor Puyi was expelled. During the communist era many of Mao Zedong’s friends lived there. It was designated a World Heritage Site in 1998.

Near the entrance is Suzhou Market St, a replica built for the Emperor and his concubines in 1762 so they could go shopping and feel like they were in a real street in Suzhou. It was destroyed in 1860 and restored in 1988.



Looking the other way. This area was just closing.



The terrace in front of the north gate with the 'Four Great Regions' building complex, modelled on the Samye Monastery in Tibet. It spreads up the hill, known as "Back Hill' (as opposed to Front Hill facing the lake).



Views from the top of Back Hill





More guardians



A remaining sutra pillar left from the once large temple complex that was here

 

[Aussie Wendy]

Heading round to the lake

Hall of the Sea of Wisdom with 1008 Buddha's decorating its external walls



Detail of the Buddha’s decorating the walls. The heads were cut off the lower ones during the attack by the Anglo French forces in 1860 but have been restored.



Views over Kunming Lake towards Beijing



The marble boat, restored by Dowger Empress Cixi using money intended to build real boats for the Chinese navy. Much of it is wood painted to resemble marble.



In summer these boats cruise the lake linking the eastern and western shores



One of several gates



The Hall of Listening Orioles like most of the palace, initially built by Emperor Qianlong for his mother to watch operas (2 storey stage behind). Like most of the palace it was burnt in 1860 and rebuilt during the reign of Emperor Guangxu (1875-1908). The Empress Dowager Cixi often watched operas and held banquets here. Now, the hall serves as a restaurant specialising in imperial court cuisine.



The Long Corridor, at 728m the longest of its type in the world, runs along the foot of Longevity Hill by the shores of the lake. Every frame, cross beam and ceiling panel is painted. The artwork was restored in 2004.



Some samples of the paintings. It was built originally by Emp. Qianlang so his mother could walk outdoors and view the garden regardless of the weather. It was rebuilt in 1886 after its destruction in 1860 and Dowager Empress Cixi also often walked here.





View of the lake from the Long Corridor


One of 4 pavilions along the length each symbolising a season

 

[Aussie Wendy]

By the lakeshore

By the water’s edge



Looking across to the Seventeen Arch Bridge which leads to Dragon King Temple. We would have liked to have had the time (and energy) to walk down and across this as it has unique features - next time!



Yunhui Yuyu archway on the lakeshore in front of the main palace buildings, Here we ran into the start of a mass of tour groups. Seems late afternoon even though everywhere is shut, is the time the tour groups descend.



The entrance to the palace complex ranging up Front Hill and now closed for the day, including Cloud Dispelling Hall and the Tower of Buddhist Incense, just seen peaking above here.



Bronze lions protect the gate



The Tower of Buddhist Incense glimpsed through the trees. Next visit will definitely arrive early enough to go in here.



Meanwhile back in the Long Corridor we had to stop walking down it as the tour groups coming in the opposite direction got too heavy.



Views of the Imperial Court buildings in front of the East Gate (and official front entrance of the Palace) and restored by Cixi. (She had Emp. Guangxu who advocated reforms imprisoned in one of these halls while his associates were beheaded.) It was impossible to walk around here due to the press of tour groups-made us appreciate how quiet we have had our sightseeing.



The story behind the next picture of the stone because I am too lazy to type it all out!



The Blue Iris or Stone of the Wastral



A rather large bonsai being protected as well.



Looking back for a proper view of the Cloud Dispelling Hall and Tower of Buddhist Incense and Sea of Wisdom Hall at the top that we saw from the other side.



Late afternoon views include the distant Jade Peak Pagoda on Jade Spring Hill under the sun


The Hall of Joyful Longevity, built by Qianlong for his mum's 60th birthday and later his home after he abdicated, as well as rebuilt by Cixi as her residence for a time. This is one of several buildings you can pay to enter.


The crane and deer outside symbolise peace.


In one of the narrow corridors among the palace complex before we managed to escape the crowds - here a view of the lake through a painted window.

 

[Aussie Wendy]

Sitting on an island watching all the crowds go by

The bridge leading to the Heralding Spring Pavilion



The view looking back the way we had come



A view of the Pavilion Heralding Spring



Cherry blossoms on the island also heralding spring and just not yet open



Several sunset pictures. While it was now after 5pm no-one came along to move us on and we were sitting with a group of photographers. For that matter the tour group's voices in the distance resounded for long after 5 so I presume once you are in you can stay for some time til they close the gates.



Jade Peak Pagoda on Jade Spring Hill





Views of distant mountains



When the sun went down it got very cold and we noticed tiny bitey things attacking us.

 

[Aussie Wendy]

We close the park

An almost full moon over the pavilion



This next pic made me think of PIO!







Full moon through the trees



The Tower of Literary Prosperity



It was getting very dark now and as the last photographer was departing, we thought we should too or get locked in!

But we did quickly stop here. The Hall of Benevolence & Longevity was originally the Emperor's administration hall. Dowager Empress Cixi dealt with affairs of state and gave audiences to foreign diplomats here. It is guarded by a Qinlin, (or Kylin), a creature who appeared on earth mostly at times of harmony and also guards against fire (failed here!)



There were also dragons. These and some odd looking birds were used as incense burners to perfume the air during formal occasions.



PIO would be proud of us as we “closed” the park!



Heading to the nearest subway to this, the East Gate (subway called Xiyuan), we found a new development called Starry Street with interesting statues and lots of westernised eateries. But we could not linger – we had a mountain of dumplings with our name on them…





Next stop Shanghai

 

[cschaaf]

We close the park

Thank you for the Summer Palace write up. Beautiful pictures!

Out last day in China is in Beijing and we fly out at 4:30PM. We're thinking about diong either the Summer Palace or going to the Wall section at Mutianyu.

Mutianyu is further away, so we'd be a bit pressed for time, but it also looks like you could spend hours at the Summer Palace.

 

[PrincessInOz]

I had read of a couple of eateries down nearby Guozijian St but they were nowhere to be found. The entrance to Guozijian St.

Seems to be a trend with the Chinese government.

order of each type 100 gms. Neither DD or I are very good at estimation – how much was 100 gms?

Is this grams?

ridiculous amounts of food delivered for just 4 people so our huge order probably didn’t seem out of place (the waste was incredible). So we ate til we burst then we saw they had take away containers.

WOW! No wonder you were full the next day.

By the water’s edge

Great picture of you.

Next visit will definitely arrive early enough to go in here.

Next visit??? When are we going?
I think I'd really like to see Disneyland during Christmas time again. But Japan takes priority.

Several sunset pictures. While it was now after 5pm no-one came along to move us on and we were sitting with a group of photographers. For that matter the tour group's voices in the distance resounded for long after 5 so I presume once you are in you can stay for some time til they close the gates.

I'm so there! That's a great view for sunset.

This next pic made me think of PIO!

Awww.

PIO would be proud of us as we “closed” the park!

Totally awesome to close out the park!

 

[Aussie Wendy]

Thank you for the Summer Palace write up. Beautiful pictures!

Out last day in China is in Beijing and we fly out at 4:30PM. We're thinking about diong either the Summer Palace or going to the Wall section at Mutianyu.

Mutianyu is further away, so we'd be a bit pressed for time, but it also looks like you could spend hours at the Summer Palace.

Thanks for the compliment. Do you have to be at the airport by 4.30 or flight leaves then as if the latter, needing to arrive 1.5 - 2.5 hrs approx prior (depending on if international flight or just to Hong Kong) gives you just the am for sightseeing. You need to leave 2 hrs each way for the trip from Beijing out to Mutinayu but you could get away just after 6 am to be there by 8 am (I think it is) opening. You could have 3 hours-ish n the wall and be back to the airport by 1 pm ish with an hour wriggle room. Less rush if you have to be at the airport later. Summer Palace says the garden opens at 7 am and the "scenic spots" so that would be the buildings at 9 am. It is around an hour by subway (and prob similar given traffic) by subway from central Beijing. You need probably 2 hours to walk around most of the "peak" spots plus extra if you go inside halls. We arrived at 3.30 and were sitting resting waiting for sunset away from the crowds by a bit after 5.30 so took 2 hours and of course buildings were closed. So the Summer Palace is probably more realistic as you could get there by 8.30, have a pleasant morning exploring and lots of time to get to the airport but if you aren't seeing the Great Wall elsewhere on your trip then I understand the attraction. I would be concerned with the distance getting to and from Mutianyu in case there was some major drama (road closed due to accident?) if I had an international flight to catch later that day. You could also throw Badaling which is closer into the mix.

 

[cschaaf]

Thanks for the compliment. Do you have to be at the airport by 4.30 or flight leaves then as if the latter, needing to arrive 1.5 - 2.5 hrs approx prior (depending on if international flight or just to Hong Kong) gives you just the am for sightseeing. You need to leave 2 hrs each way for the trip from Beijing out to Mutinayu but you could get away just after 6 am to be there by 8 am (I think it is) opening. You could have 3 hours-ish n the wall and be back to the airport by 1 pm ish with an hour wriggle room. Less rush if you have to be at the airport later. Summer Palace says the garden opens at 7 am and the "scenic spots" so that would be the buildings at 9 am. It is around an hour by subway (and prob similar given traffic) by subway from central Beijing. You need probably 2 hours to walk around most of the "peak" spots plus extra if you go inside halls. We arrived at 3.30 and were sitting resting waiting for sunset away from the crowds by a bit after 5.30 so took 2 hours and of course buildings were closed. So the Summer Palace is probably more realistic as you could get there by 8.30, have a pleasant morning exploring and lots of time to get to the airport but if you aren't seeing the Great Wall elsewhere on your trip then I understand the attraction. I would be concerned with the distance getting to and from Mutianyu in case there was some major drama (road closed due to accident?) if I had an international flight to catch later that day. You could also throw Badaling which is closer into the mix.

Out flight LEAVES at 4:30 and is an international flight.

For Mutianyu, that was my thinking - getting a private driver and leaving the hotel around 6am to 'rope drop' The Wall We might be a bit rushed, but it seems like we could get a tour in, but there is a lot of risk.

We're already doing the Badaling section a few days earlier (on a Viking trip) so we don't feel we 'have to' see Mutianyu, we just thought it might be fun to see another section.

I think I'd be okay with the level of risk, but it might drive my wife crazy and limit her enjoyment of the site.

I'll check out the idea of taking the subway to the Summer Palace.

Thanks!

 

[darrenf67]

Great report - loving the photos!

 

[shushh]

Sorry for being AWOL for a while...but I'm back and wow! Those blue blue skies!!! And the wall! Just amazing. Some great shots there with the scenic background through gates/doorways of the wall.

 

[Aussie Wendy]

I will get back to this soon...life getting in the way for a while!