Shout out to Maddox and Rhiannon for posting on the blog!
Weekend update. We were lucky enough to go to Beijing, the capital, for the weekend and we had an amazing time learning about China’s past. First things first, the pollution in Beijing is indescribable. The pictures of down town were taken mid-day, what you are seeing is NOT fog --- it’s pollution! Many, many, people wear masks on the street because the air is so dirty. It makes me SO very grateful for living in super, natural BC.
On Saturday we were taken about an hour outside of the city to visit the Great Wall of China. It was crazy, over the top crowded, but it was amazing. Parts of the wall date back as far as the 7th century BCE but much of it was constructed/rebuilt during the Ming Dynasty which was 1368-1644. It was built to protect China’s borders from invaders and had a series of watch towers which they used to send smoke signals as a way of communicating danger. The wall is 8850km long and can be seen from space! We spent a lot of time walking along the wall and the further we walked the less crowded it became. We logged 7km up and down along the wall.
On Sunday we went to the Forbidden City and the Temple of Heaven. The Forbidden City was the imperial palace for the Ming and Qing dynasties. It was the home of the emperors and also the political and ceremonial centre of the government. It is a huge complex with hundreds of buildings. We had to go through a lot of security to get onto the grounds and they were very strict about lining up single file (I’m not joking, Mrs. Brajcich got in trouble twice for not standing in line properly!) You travel through a variety of massive gates that lead into a courtyard that generally holds a ‘hall’ or ‘palace’. For example, you go through the Gate of Supreme Harmony to get to the Hall of Supreme Harmony and the Palace of Heavenly Purity. The architecture is stunning. Everything is covered in decorative paintings and there are so many statues and carvings of dragons (symbol for the emperor) and phoenixes (symbol for the empress) as well as many animals and creatures believed to bring luck, prosperity, health etc.
Finally, we finished our day at the Temple of Heaven which is a bigger complex than the Forbidden City. This massive complex is where the Emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties went for annual ceremonies of prayer to Heaven. We saw a variety of temples including the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, The Imperial Vault of Heaven and the Circular Mound Alter. At the top of the Circular Mound Alter is a round slate called the Heart of Heaven (a necessary photo opJ).
The Temple of Heaven wasn’t nearly as crowded at the Forbidden City and I’m not sure if that’s why I preferred it or not. There were many architectural similarities but the Forbidden City had palaces and temples that were more rectangular with orange and red whereas the Temple of Heaven had structures that were circular and had much more blue tile. To be perfectly honest, although the Forbidden City is THE MOST visited tourist site in the world (14 million people/year!), I really preferred the Temple of Heaven. I found the circular architecture more peaceful and calming I think.
After 2 days in Beijing we had logged 21km of walking! Enjoy the photos!
Weekend update. We were lucky enough to go to Beijing, the capital, for the weekend and we had an amazing time learning about China’s past. First things first, the pollution in Beijing is indescribable. The pictures of down town were taken mid-day, what you are seeing is NOT fog --- it’s pollution! Many, many, people wear masks on the street because the air is so dirty. It makes me SO very grateful for living in super, natural BC.
On Saturday we were taken about an hour outside of the city to visit the Great Wall of China. It was crazy, over the top crowded, but it was amazing. Parts of the wall date back as far as the 7th century BCE but much of it was constructed/rebuilt during the Ming Dynasty which was 1368-1644. It was built to protect China’s borders from invaders and had a series of watch towers which they used to send smoke signals as a way of communicating danger. The wall is 8850km long and can be seen from space! We spent a lot of time walking along the wall and the further we walked the less crowded it became. We logged 7km up and down along the wall.
On Sunday we went to the Forbidden City and the Temple of Heaven. The Forbidden City was the imperial palace for the Ming and Qing dynasties. It was the home of the emperors and also the political and ceremonial centre of the government. It is a huge complex with hundreds of buildings. We had to go through a lot of security to get onto the grounds and they were very strict about lining up single file (I’m not joking, Mrs. Brajcich got in trouble twice for not standing in line properly!) You travel through a variety of massive gates that lead into a courtyard that generally holds a ‘hall’ or ‘palace’. For example, you go through the Gate of Supreme Harmony to get to the Hall of Supreme Harmony and the Palace of Heavenly Purity. The architecture is stunning. Everything is covered in decorative paintings and there are so many statues and carvings of dragons (symbol for the emperor) and phoenixes (symbol for the empress) as well as many animals and creatures believed to bring luck, prosperity, health etc.
Finally, we finished our day at the Temple of Heaven which is a bigger complex than the Forbidden City. This massive complex is where the Emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties went for annual ceremonies of prayer to Heaven. We saw a variety of temples including the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, The Imperial Vault of Heaven and the Circular Mound Alter. At the top of the Circular Mound Alter is a round slate called the Heart of Heaven (a necessary photo opJ).
The Temple of Heaven wasn’t nearly as crowded at the Forbidden City and I’m not sure if that’s why I preferred it or not. There were many architectural similarities but the Forbidden City had palaces and temples that were more rectangular with orange and red whereas the Temple of Heaven had structures that were circular and had much more blue tile. To be perfectly honest, although the Forbidden City is THE MOST visited tourist site in the world (14 million people/year!), I really preferred the Temple of Heaven. I found the circular architecture more peaceful and calming I think.
After 2 days in Beijing we had logged 21km of walking! Enjoy the photos!