Tiananmen Square, The Forbidden City, and The Temple of Heaven

Sunday, April 15, was reserved for more "Cultural Education." That included Tiananmen Square, The Forbidden City, and the Temple of Heaven.

We began the day at 8:30 a.m. by heading to Tiananmen Square (http://www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/beijing/tianan.htm).

Tian means heaven. It is the Square of the Gate of Heaven. My strongest memory of this vast concrete park is from 1989. You can look up those events on the internet or in history books. The square acts as a huge park with people of all ages walking around, and of course there are sellers of souvenirs following tourists and wanting to make a sale. Soldiers in green uniforms practiced marching in formation, and we are told that many of these men come from the countryside. I saw no women soldiers on Sunday. I must ask if they have them, or perhaps you can look it up for me! They come to the city and become soldiers with the hope of having a better life for themselves and their families. Many of them work for the government after serving in the military.





Mao Zedong's huge portrait is visible from far, far away. His body lies on a slab of black granite from Taishan, one of the five sacred Taoist mountains. We did not go to see his body, but evidently many people continue to walk by to view his body every year.

Many things in this area include the phrase "The People's" (e.g.Monument to the People's Heroes and Great Hall of the People). The Museum of the Chinese Revolution and the Chinese History Museum are on this square, but they are being renovated for the 2008 Olympics, so we did not go in them.

To reach the Forbidden City, (http://www.travelchinaguide.com/cityguides/beijing/forbidden.htm)

we walked through an underground tunnel from the square. The Forbidden City was the Imperial Palace during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. It was a beautiful series of buildings with ornate rooftops. Until 1911, the Forbidden City was only available to the those with imperial permission. Now, visitors by the hundreds from all over the world are visiting every day!

After lunch, we visited the Temple of Heaven, an example of architecture during the Ming Dynasty. Set in a huge park, this was where the emperor performed his most important rituals. The building I enjoyed most was the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests. It was built in 1420 – so, to put it in perspective, it was built about 70 years before Columbus sailed the ocean blue! The emperor’s special advisors called geomancers were feng shui experts, and they determined that this exact point was where heaven and earth met! The roof of the building looks like a giant hat, and the ceiling inside has a circular design that is based on cosmological principals. The building was constructed without a single nail!

Many tourists in both small groups and large groups made viewing somewhat difficult. One group of tourists in red baseball caps were given directions from a bullhorn, and then they all seemed to gather around me smushing me into a plexiglass covering to a door where I was viewing a room. After being pushed around a bit, I finally pushed my way out not worrying with the usual niceties that I have grown up to believe are expected! I hope that those red-hatted people have forgiven me by now for pushing them out of the way!

Sunday was definitely a day of walking! I wish I had worn a pedometer for the day!