China: The Temple of Heaven

These blogs about my summer vacations always take longer than I expect to write. So here is Part Two of ??? of our China Adventure.

After the first couple days of hot-dog-induced stomach ailments, we were finally able to stagger out of Robin's apartment again. It was hotter than hell with 800% humidity but we managed to make our way to the Temple of Heaven. As we exited the subway, we naturally chose the wrong way and ended up looping around the giant wall that surrounds the complex (the Chinese are quite fond of walls as it would appear). So we didn't get the greatest vantage point for our first view of the temple's backside but it was still simply beautiful.





As we made our way to the front side of the temple, it became even more stunning. The brightly colored facades and intricate decorations, all adorned with the dragon and phoenix motif were surrounded by a marble white gate. The biggest disappointment was that we weren't allowed inside!








You could only walk along the perimeter of the actual temple and peek inside an even more brilliantly colored and lavishly decorated interior. It was jaw-droppingly ornate. I had to fight the urge to jump inside to gaze at the ceiling (one of my favorite sightseeing activities as the art history nerd I am), but I think they can execute you for that in this country so I remained safely outside. And soon a mob of tourists descended on us, so it was time to make an escape anyways.









There were other things to check out besides the Temple of Heaven, but as we were just recently recovered from food poisoning - plus the unbearable humidity and smog - we made a quick pass through the rest. The line for the whispering gallery was simply ridiculous so we skipped it. There's just so much tourist shoving you can put up with in a day, so we had a "quick" outing of just 5-6 hours before heading back to the air-conditioned comfort of Robin's apartment.