Monday, 18 February 2013

Temple, Temple, Floor


MY FEET HURT SO MUCH.


Today we had a free day, so I headed out by myself to go and see the Temple of Heaven and the Lama Temple. After some troublesome buses (I went the wrong way twice!) I made it to the subway and from then on it was simple going. 

The Temple of Heaven was the place where the Emperor communicated with the heavens by giving offerings and burning incense. The Emperor was deemed a son of heaven and so was only one permitted to pray to the heavens and ask for favour. The temple itself has got to be one of the most visually impressive things I have seen since I got here. It is made entirely out of wood and not a single nail is used! It adorns the top of hill and boasts views of Southern Beijing, it was certainly majestic.










The Lama Temple was completely different, namely because it is still a place of worship. There was incense burning EVERYWHERE and there were even Buddhist monks! The statues of the Buddha were very impressive but the colossal 18m tall Buddha was truly breath-taking. It had been carved out of one piece of wood and decorated simply but was still a stunning sight to behold.






By this point I was exhausted and my feet hurt like mad so I headed back to the room for a quiet afternoon to try and recuperate. Feeling a little better tonight and everyone is insisting I come out tonight so look forward to a bed bound Huw tomorrow morning :(

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