Tiantan Park and the Temple of Heaven

A visit to Tiantan Park and the Temple of Heaven in Beijing brought tears to my eyes. It was amazing to see hundreds of people so happy, so active, so full of spirit in spite of decades of repression and oppression. Here, the rain was eminent, but still, both young and old folks took part in several activities despite the dreary weather. Most interesting was this man, who was practicing water calligraphy, writing poetry in the park with his large brush and a dab of water. Unfortunately, his verses would soon be washed away, as it did in fact begin to downpour about 15 minutes after I took his photograph. Along the long corridor to the Temple of Heaven, old men were busy playing card games and women sang karaoke and young men played odd-looking homemade instruments in the hopes of earning a few yuan for their efforts.

I could still smell the fresh paint at the Temple of Heaven, as the government is busy repainting and renovating all of Beijing's historical sites for the 2008 Olympics. As a result, all the stories that you hear about Beijing being unclean and disorderly are largely untrue today. Of course, I was still surprised to see so many people spitting (One sign read: "No spitting! We are an Olympic country now!") and nose picking, but it's nice to see that things are getting a lot better in terms of cleanliness.

This other man, dressed as an emperor (see the red and yellow?) was playing the Star Spangled Banner (albeit poorly) on the saxaphone, which was strangely funny (shows how things have changed since the demise of Mao?) but also eerie, especially since a few meters down, lots of people who probably aided Mao in his Cultural Revolution (largely due to fears of death or torture) were still singing revolutionary Communist songs. To see a random guy recalling China's imperial days while playing America's national anthem. Yeah, I needed a moment to take in the odd juxtaposition, that's for sure.

Below see some of the other activities in Tiantan Park, Beijing's answer to Central Park, along with some photos of the Temple of Heaven complex, where emperors fasted before offering ritual sacrifices to the gods.

Tai Chi

Ballroom dancing

Fan dancing

A funny game where you have to not drop the tennis ball
while swaying around a raquet to the music

Gathering around the Temple of Heaven

One of the Temple of Heaven halls

On the left is the Hall of Annual Prayer, the Temple of Heaven's main attraction and largest building. On the right is an example of some of the architecture around Tiantan Park.

More views of the Hall of Annual Prayer

Jeremy in a cool entranceway at the Hall of Abstinence, where the emperor rested and fasted before he made his sacrifices, and a view of the amazing architecture at the Temple of Heaven