BEIJING - NOVEMBER, 2012 [PART ONE]

This was my second trip to Beijing, China. I spent several days in Beijing in 2008 when I traveled throughout China for several weeks with Michael. We saw most of the important tourist sights in Beijing, but I always wanted to return to see the spots that we missed, and to revisit some of the places we saw, and spend more time there. Because this was the off-season, the sights were less crowded, and because I was on my own, and not part of a tour group, I could spend as much time at each location as I wanted.

On my first day I visited the Lama Temple (Yonghegong), which means the "Palace of Peace and Harmony." The Lama Temple is Beijing's most visited religious site, and one of the most important functioning Buddhist temples in Beijing. The temple was actually a number of buildings with courtyards, each containing Buddhist relics, art, and figures. There were few people there the morning that I went, so walking throughout the grounds was very peaceful.

From the Lama Temple I walked a short distance through one of the local hutongs to the Confucious Temple (Kong Miao), which is China's second largest Confucious temple. Although there were few people there the morning that I went, the temple is the busiest before national university entrance examinations, when students and parents descend in droves to seek out the Great Sage's assistance.

Next I traveled to the Temple of Heaven Park (Tiantan Gongyuan) which is a large park south of the Forbidden City. This was the site where emperors once performed important rites. The most prominent building is the Temple of Heaven, which is round on top (representing heaven) and square on the bottom (representing the earth). Each year the emperor would come to this temple to offer sacrifices, meant to please the gods so that they would provide generous harvests. Now, early in the morning you find parkgoers performing tai chi, kung fu, group dancing, or playing games and cards. I also saw several new brides and grooms getting their wedding photos taken.