China Ancient Trip, Day 11: Beijing

Finally, I reached to the final post for our trip to China. As the saying goes, all the good things will come to an end, and this trip will be the memorable one..

There were still plenty of time since our flight back home was early in the next morning. We couldn't get an extension night, but only allowed to check-out the hotel before 6 pm.

Good thing we were able to slot-in half day tour within the city. That day, we left before 8am to visit the Temple of Heaven and the Summer Palace.

Temple of Heaven was built during the Ming Dynasty for annual ceremonies of prayer to Heaven for good harvest. It located at the southern part of Beijing and there were three other temple, Temple of Earth (north), Temple of Sun (east) and Temple of Moon (west).

Once we entered through the east gate of the park, we were amazed when we saw elderly doing healthy physical activities. We walked along beautiful handcraft architecture Long Corridor towards the Temple of Heaven.

The temple has been listed as World Heritage Site in 1998

Arriving at the Tiantan East Gate

It was early in the morning and they were ready to stretch their muscles

Some practicing tai-chi

Some playing Chinese chess game

From the east gate, this Long Corridor leads to the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest

The prayer hall was grounded on three tier marble paved level 

The structure of the prayer hall has been built without a single nail

The temple has been reconstructed latest in 1751

Passing through the Chenseng Gate to the Imperial Vault of Heaven 

There were nine steps on each terrace leading to the Circular Mound of Altar

At the center of the upper terrace lies a round stone surrounded by nine concentric rings of stones

Stands an oven built of glazed-tiles, used as a sacrificial vessel for roasting ox and sheep, etc

The Zhao Heng Gate is at the southernmost point of the entire park

After the driver picked us outside the Zhao Heng, we visited the Summer Palace, located 30km northwest, from the Temple of Heaven.The Palace situated in between the Longevity Hill and Kunming Lake, creating astounding atmosphere.

The bronze statues of phoenixes

Dragon stature sculpture guarding hall of Benevolence and Longevity

The rock maze form an aesthetic view of the Palace itself

You can climb the rock, follow through the path to the top of the Longevity Hill

We're interested in taking one of the boat rides across the lake, but the time doesn't permitted

A blurry picture of the Summer Palace, from the distant.

The Long Corridor itself is 2'388 feet long and has more then 14'000 paintings covering it.

One of the many painting in the Long Corridor.

Taking the picture of Long Corridor from different angle

We jump out from the Long Corridor and took the Qingyao Pavilion path instead

On the central axis of the Palace lies the hall of Dispelling Clouds

Getting nearer to another highlight of the Summer Palace

It's the Marble Boat, also known as the Boat of Purity and Ease

Taking a short break after couple of hours of walking

After passing through the Sumeru Temple, we walked through the Pine Grove

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The Suzhou River, also called as Back Lake located near to the North Gate.

We had a lunch before Rose left us at the hotel's lobby, remarked that the tour has ended up. It was time to go back home. 

Bye bye Beijing, Bye bye China!

Exploring new places on my own are always been my travel preference. But this time we opted for guided tours for the trip in Xi'an and Beijing. The decision we made, just to make sure that we experience the best, under the expertise hands. We have just enough time for the two cities, other than the urban city of Hong Kong, surrounded by monuments from thousands of years ago. It’s as if you can touch the spirit of China. Yet, hope that we can visit other cities of this big country, soon....