The Golden Week holiday starts tomorrow and the area around the bus and rail stations is a mass of people carrying all manner of baggage – suitcases, bedding, piles of boxes and parcels of all shapes and sizes – as people arrive and depart the city. Today the smog has descended with a vengeance and creates a thick mist over everything, obscuring even the tops of buildings. So much for the clear blue skies of our first two days! We spend the day visiting the Temple of Heaven in Southern Beijing. Built during the Ming dynasty (1400s) the site comprises a several temples in a landscaped park and is the largest heaven-worship complex in the world. Unfortunately, like all the main sights here, it is over-run with tour groups, many wearing matching caps, and all following flags brandished by their tour guides. More relaxing is the a walk through the park and a visit to the Beamless Palace which seems to have been over-looked by the crowds so we have it to ourselves – bliss!
The Temple complex covers 273 hectares and is arranged with several buildings sited on a North-West axis (this is the most auspicious layout according to fung shui). The complex dates from the Ming Dynasty and was built over the period 1420 to 1754. The main route through the site is from the north to the south gate visiting each buildings in turn. The most significant of which is the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests with its triple-layered roof covered in blue tiles and vividly decorated eaves.
The park is particularly lovely with little pagodas and covered walkways all in the Chinese style with up-turned eaves. As we meander around we come across several groups of Chinese either playing a medley of traditional instruments or singing. One soloist playing a Chinese flute had lyrics on a flip chart and had drawn a sizeable crowd who were enthusiastically participating in group karaoke. Another group had taken over a double roofed pagoda and were singing two-part harmonies (men and women) to the accompaniment of an accordion. We stopped a while to listen and enjoy.