Temple of Heaven

Monday, March 18 -- What a great, cold day in Beijing. Troy had his first day of SMU classes so the spouses had the day alone. I trekked through the Temple of Heaven park with Anita this morning.. The Temple of Heaven itself is located inside a larger public park in Beijing. People from the community go there every morning to do Tai Chai, Chinese aerobics and ceremonial singing. It was a really neat slice of Beijing life to see and hear. The entire complex told the story of the more "spiritual" side of Emperor life. The emporer fasted in one temple, then went to another temple to choose the sacrificial animal, then went to another temple to sacrifice the animal, then another temple to present it to the gods. Really fascinating. It was such a beautiful park with amazingly old trees. The Temple of Heaven is connected to smaller temples via walkway. On the opposite end of the Temple of Heaven is a large circular stone where the Emperor would offer the sacrifice (animal, not human!) to the gods.

In the afternoon, we hit the Silk Markets again, Anita, Noel and myself. Knock-off designer jeans for 7US is unbeatable! This evening, a small group of us had great conversation over a Chinese dinner then we capped the evening off with foot massages! It was a great day of friendships, good conversations, and amazing sights.

And now, we are off to Shanghai in the morning. Just a few minutes ago, Troy said our time in Beijing has been way too short. Totally agree. I haven't even told you about the Olympic stadiums that we saw yesterday. Beijing will host the 2008 Olympics. Troy's architectural eye tells him they have a long way to go to get the Olympic sites completed...this city will change drastically in the next year with all of the pre-Olympic construction. The traffic here now is not good; I would not want to be here when the Olympic world descends upon Beijing. Good night -- Sleep in heavenly peace.