We left the hotel around 7:30 a.m. and wandered down the sleepy streets of Beijing...the city had already been up for a couple of hours, but the cold of the early March morning had everyone moving slowly.
We arrived at the temple grounds around 8:00, paid the entrance fee and began our walk through gardens and walkways; people walking, dancing, doing tai chi...men and women of all ages were playing simple games, enjoying the brisk, bright morning sunshine. It was nothing short of perfect.
One of the first games we encountered was a cross between badminton and ping pong. There was an old couple smacking a birdie around with what looked like ping pong paddles. The old guy made eye contact with me and before we knew it, Mike and I were having a go at it.
We continued on our way and Mike managed some great shots of the temples in the morning sun. You can see there is one square temple and one round one symbolizing the Chinese belief that heaven is round and the earth is square.
From the Temple of Heaven facing South.
I think the photos speak for themselves...
We strolled long enough to see some monks on a tour but both began craving a warm cuppa coffee and so we headed back to our hotel.
Before we left the temple gardens we passed a gentleman writing kanji (Chinese characters) on the sidewalk -he was using a long stick with a water soaked sponge on the end. It was fascinating to watch him gracefully scroll his messages on the pavement. I'd like to know what he was saying...
The city was waking up...
I haven't mentioned it yet, but Beijing is full of VWs!!! Every second car was a Jetta, or a Santana, or a Passat -most of the taxis were Jettas of every generation. We spotted this rare 3-wheeled beauty parked on the side walk -more rare than my Thing I'd say. He was delivering milk on the particular morning.
We stopped for coffee and pastries before heading back up to our hotel room to rest before venturing out for the second part of our morning...
