My initial plan was to visit the Great Wall but I learnt it has been closed. I must say I am a bit disappointed.
Tanja and Susanne called me and suggested we visit the Heaven Temple which turned out to be a great idea.
The weather is pretty nice and the Temple is the most perfect example of Ming architecture.
The temple originally served a vast stage for the solemn rites performed by the emperor, the Son of heaven, as he sought good harvests, divine clearance and atonement for the sins of the people.
The complex of halls is set in a 267-hectare park with gates at each point of the compass and bounded by walls.
Seen from above the temples are round and the bases square, a pattern deriving from the ancient Chinese belief that the heaven is round and the earth square. Thus the northern end of the park is semicircular and the southern end is square.
We left the Temple of Heaven and went to the Drum House, again this was also closed as it turned out that some important Head of State was in there. I bet it was George Bush!
We took a walk along the beautiful lakeside around the Drum House and then left for our various Hotels.
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