Beijing China Day 1

  

click photo to enlarge		 After a 12 hour flight to Beijing we arrived at our hotel in the morning. Hmm we are on our own to rest or go out so…. for me the best way to get adjusted to their time zone is not to rest but make sure you stay up until a normal time where you are.

We had the concierge write out in Chinese for the taxi driver to take us to Llama Temple. Then I also had him write take me back to the hotel and address and off we went. The Llama Temple is a working temple and monastery of Tibetan Buddhism. This monastery was first built during the Qing Dynasty in 1694. The Hall of Harmony and Peace is the main building of the temple. It houses three bronze statues of the Buddhas of the Three Ages, the statue of the Gautama Buddha (Buddha of the Present) is in the center, it is flanked by the statue of Kasyapa Matanga (Buddha of the Past, right) and the Maitreya Buddha (Buddha of the Future, left). I was not allowed to take pictures in the Hall only outside.


click photo to enlarge		 After walking around the Temple we went out walking the streets and areas called Houtong around the temple. Houtong’s are alleys formed by courtyard residences. These are older neighborhoods being torn down by the government who then build high rises. We learned later on our trip just how much a small place in these Houtongs costs…. As much as our house in California and they do not even have bathrooms.

click photo to enlarge		 Next we were off to the Temple of Heaven Park. Originally, this was the place where emperors of the Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644) and Qing Dynasty (1644 - 1911) held the Heaven Worship Ceremony. In 1988 it was opened to the public. Covering an area of 3,529,412 square yards, the Temple of Heaven 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 overall size of the two complexes.

The round building is the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests. The park was crowded but just the very beginning of what we would see the next week about crowds. Taxi ride were very cheap compared to the US and food was cheap.

               click photo to enlarge
               click photo to enlarge