We went to Beijing two weeks ago, I'm just getting the pictures ready. My 2nd trip to the Temple of Heaven. I tried to get around the grounds more since this is a huge area, more than 3 times the size of the Forbidden City.
T
I had hopes of it not being very crowded since I was going at the relatively early hour of 9:00AM. How silly of me. There were thousands of people there. The park opens at 6:00 AM and people take advantage of the large area to exercise. there are many forms of exercise from ballroom dancing to Tai Chi with swords to Tai Chi with paddles and balls to just plain aerobic exercise like the Jane Fonda workout of the 80's.
I also walked around the grounds more this time. I wound up being very tired by 4:30 in the afternoon. But I had a good day and photographed a fair amount.
To Above is the Imperial Vault of Heaven which is similar to the Hall of Prayer For Good Harvests but smaller. The gates in the forground are the gates used to approach the circular mound altar which is behind me in this photo. I am always impressed with the scale of Chinese building. They spared nothing to achieve what they wanted. Huge gates, large buildings, everything done on a grand scale just for the emporer.
I had hopes of it not being very crowded since I was going at the relatively early hour of 9:00AM. How silly of me. There were thousands of people there. The park opens at 6:00 AM and people take advantage of the large area to exercise. there are many forms of exercise from ballroom dancing to Tai Chi with swords to Tai Chi with paddles and balls to just plain aerobic exercise like the Jane Fonda workout of the 80's.
I also walked around the grounds more this time. I wound up being very tired by 4:30 in the afternoon. But I had a good day and photographed a fair amount.The circular mound altar pictured below is one of the places that the ceremony for prayers for good harvests took place. These ceremonies took place twice a year when the emporer and all his court would go from the Forbidden City to The Temple of Heaven for the Prayer for Good Harvests. No common people were allowed to witness these events.
The Circular Mound Altar is where the Emporer prayed for good weather. It is build with a circular arrangement of marble stones in multiples of 9. The first ring is 9 stones around a square of marble, the 2nd ring is 9x2, etc until the last ring which is 9x9 or 81 stones around. The number 9 was very important to the Imperial court of ancient China because it was the most powerful digit.
The Circular Mound Altar is where the Emporer prayed for good weather. It is build with a circular arrangement of marble stones in multiples of 9. The first ring is 9 stones around a square of marble, the 2nd ring is 9x2, etc until the last ring which is 9x9 or 81 stones around. The number 9 was very important to the Imperial court of ancient China because it was the most powerful digit.
To Above is the Imperial Vault of Heaven which is similar to the Hall of Prayer For Good Harvests but smaller. The gates in the forground are the gates used to approach the circular mound altar which is behind me in this photo. I am always impressed with the scale of Chinese building. They spared nothing to achieve what they wanted. Huge gates, large buildings, everything done on a grand scale just for the emporer.
I'm getting out of the habit of posting on here. We have been busy with classes and other things so it is harder to get time. I hope that with the end of the semester coming I'll find more time and inclination to write.
No comments:
Post a Comment