Temple of Heaven Album

The Temple of Heaven was the place where emperors of the Ming and Qing Dynasties would worship heaven and pray for bumper crops. Shawn and I just thought we were going to another Temple, but this place was unlike anywhere else. We first walked in and I couldn't believe my eyes, there was a whole group (maybe 30 or so people) doing Tai Chi in the park. Young, old, male, female... all in unison. I was so excited that I openly expressed how impressed I was that all these people would get together in 40 degree weather (coats, gloves, etc.) to do Tai Chi. As we rounded the corner, there were more people. This time playing ping pong, doing a stick game, playing hackey sack, stretching. It was unreal, it truly was the temple of heaven! THEN we made our way up the stairs and another group of people were going up too...only backwards! We assumed it was for exercise, but you never know. Finally, on our way out, there were several men practicing their characters on the pavement, using only water so not to deface the grounds. A group of women were doing a dance with fans, it was so peaceful and beautiful that I wanted to join in. What an incredible (and unexpected) place this Temple of Heaven turned out to be.

Oh and as we were leaving the grounds, we were bombarded with street vendors trying to sell watches, gloves, you name it. They even got into our van! All we could do was sit back, laugh and snap a photo- hee hee.