Thursday 22nd Sept
Started new campaign of noodle packet for breakfast – the buffets were just over-filling us. Caught bus to the great park called the Temple of Heaven. Noticed that the yellow clad bus stop attendants were missing. Another perfect day. We were glad to be under shade of huge and ancient trees. Such a de-stressing environment. Chinese going about doing their thing. Martial arts, whip cracking (5m long – most of it thick chain), ribbon waving (with 4 year old joining in) Richard Simmons and his girls doing very complicated western dance steps, ballroom, harmonicas (Ei-del-weiss . .Ei-del-weiss & Click go the shears boys) etc. Oh and another man walking backwards!
This part is a bit like one of those art nouveau movies where you see the same event repeatedly through different eyes. See if you can guess who wrote what?
This is a huge 45 hectare park/garden with a number of large walled-off areas and buildings, each of which has its own ticket office and small fee. Janine went through most of them while I sat around watching the dancing girls (with a purely cultural interest). This worked well until we agreed to meet at the North exit of the final and largest temple, without specifying a fallback strategy or a time. There turned out to be no North gate and in short we mislaid one another and ended up drifting back to the hotel separately. We had talked about the benefits of hiring mobiles for just such a situation and it was a good experience and we will need to be more careful. We have been surprised at the general lack of English among adults, although apparently children learn it at school.
The park is where the emperor came to conduct ceremonies for ensuring a bountiful harvest. Arriving from the south, you come to the Circular Mound Alter. Built using lots of 9’s. Good feng shui, 9 levels, 9 columns etc. Nice shady area with lots of people milling about and doing things. I went into the Imperial Vault of Heaven which is surrounded by a circular ‘echoing wall’. This court yarded set of buildings, it has 2 rectangular buildings on either side of the large round temple building. The east side building contains an altar to the planets and the west side was to the seasons. Located Chris just where he should have been. Set off past the 9 dragon tree, through one of the many gates and over the Danbi Bridge to the main complex the ‘Hall of prayer for good harvests’ with the ‘Temple of Heaven’ as its centrepiece. Another admission, to meet Chris at the exit on the other side. Very impressive building. Largest wood structure in the world and all built without a nail. Can see there are 2 exits, neither of them North but assume Chris will be in the shade near one of them. Out East side, walk to west via the north side. Nope. Sat and waited, wandered between the 2 gates and back to where I entered – nope. Lost in China. I eventually gave up and bussed back to hotel by myself at 3pm and found him in the foyer. He had stood in the sun at the South gate in a characteristically patient, loving and devoted fashion until 1.30, parched and baked by the sun, windblown, persecuted by insistent vendors of balsa wood temples and raucous multicoloured lampshade hats.
We had a quiet and early night, wandering round our local streets and finding a few fruit stores. Grapes and bananas both at about 60c/kg. Who is pocketing the $13 Aussies are paying for bananas again? Planning a timeframe for the next leg to Xian and back to Chengdu, where we will branch off on other adventures.
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