Beijing
What a great first day. Perfect weather. Our tour guide for all of Beijing, Frank, is wonderful--affable, and provides great history about Beijing and each excursion we go on. Get this: He got a university degree in electrical engineering at a fairly elite university here, and then was assigned by the government (no choice) to the tourism bureau because there were openings there and not in his field. He is no longer with the tourism bureau because he took classes on the side and started free-lancing.
I’m very impressed with all of the greenery, landscaping, and parks everywhere in Beijing. Roses are in bloom and many of the roads and freeways have long rows of rosebushes along the way, as shown in these photos taken from the bus.
The Temple of Heaven
We went to the Temple of Heaven, where the emperor went twice a year to pray to the ancestors for good harvest. This main temple (below) was rebuilt 1880ish after it was struck by lightening and burned. They imported logs from Oregon for the main timbers that support the 3 roofs. No metal used in the entire thing, and it withstood a 7.8 earthquake later. This round temple is on the top level of a huge terrace, with rectangular buildings on the lower levels.
Below are some details of the tiles and decorations of the temple.
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