I spent a week in Beijing. The same week during which the National Day of China falls on. This meant that Beijing was a million times busier and crazier than it normally would be.
This was definitely not planned.
With a city that holds more than 22 million people, you quickly become tired and exhausted from the endless traffic, pollution and noise. When you add in the fact that practically everyone else from the rest of China all seemed to visit Beijing for this week, it was unbearable and I desperately needed to escape.
The grounds of the Temple of Heaven provided the perfect respite.
The name Temple of Heaven is a little misleading as it actually more than just a temple, it is a huge park as well. Inside the park, there are three main sections: the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, the Imperial Vault of Heaven and Circular Mound Altar.
Upon entering the park, I felt insulated from the noise and stress of Beijing.
As I wandered around, heading in the general direction where I believed the important things to be, I passed hundreds of locals lying in the shade, relaxing. Around the park people were assembled around game tables where they were playing chess or other Chinese board games.
There were still vendors present, selling snacks, drinks and small trinkets, but it was much more relaxed and you weren’t harassed Shanghai style.
My first stop was the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, which is where the emperors used to come to sacrifice animals and burn incense to pray for good weather for their crops.
Located south of the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest is the Imperial Vault of Heaven, which is surrounded by the very popular echo wall.
The wall utilises the theory of sound wave. If one person stands on one side of the wall and whispers something their voice will be transmitted around the wall and can be heard on the other side.
I wanted to try out the echo wall but as I was alone I didn’t have much success with it. I tried whispering at one side and sprinting to the other side to hear myself, but I guess sound travels faster than Lauren as all I could hear were excited Chinese mumblings.
Just inside of the echo wall are two chambers containing tablets of the gods of different elements. The left chamber contains gold, wood, water, fire and earth. The right chamber contains tablets representing wind, rain, thunder and lightning.
The mound was built with extremely smooth materials, which cause sound waves to spread quickly to the edges of the mound and reflect back towards you. This process takes less than a tenth of a second so it appears to happen instantly combining your original speech with the echo created. This results in the volume of your voice doubling.
For the entire time I was there excited children would go running up to the altar and stand there screaming loudly.
I didn’t stay very long.
I visited the Temple of Heaven on a day when nearly no one was there. Of course, it was the dead of winter also. Have a pic where I’m standing on the mound clapping and listening to the sound….
Wow, that sounds awesome!
I hate to break it to you like this, but Beijing is actually a lot LESS crowded on National Day/the Moon Festival, because a lot of people in the cities get a week off from work and go back home to visit their families in the country… or vacation in Southern China or S.E. Asia. There really are just that many people. I’d love to show Beijing when it’s actually “crowded,” like during May holiday O_O Hard to believe? Trust me – I lived there for two years, and one of them was over the 60 year anniversary of the founding of the PRC (1949-2009). Thing is, the general public wasn’t invited to many of the planned events, so it didn’t particularly draw a crowd. Still, there were dozens more police security posted throughout the city to avoid protests (which never happened). That’s the week I escaped to Cambodia to avoid being harassed by the po-po.
I was going on the fact that every single person I spoke to in the hostel was telling me how much crazier it was compared to the week before, and how they didn’t even want to go outside because of the crowds!
All train and bus tickets were booked for the entire week so I really struggled getting there and had to fly out because nothing was available… Most tube stations were also closed due to the crowds so that was a pain too.
Great post, great pictures
Thanks! :)
Gorgeous photos Lauren! The colors are so vivid!
Thanks, Sheryll!! :)
I feel like I am kind of an expert when it comes to showing up in places during their “busiest time EVER” so I totally empathize with you, Lauren!
When I went to the Temple of Heaven it was also colder than cold December and there were still these precious senior citizens out there, ballroom dancing the day away!
The echo chamber didn’t work for me either. Maybe it’s all a sham?
Awww, that sounds so adorable! Well, were you doing the echo chamber by yourself or with someone? Pretty certain you need two people for it to work!
I just spent a 20 hour layover in Beijing and loved the Temple of Heaven. WhenI went there were a ton of old people around the park. Some were working out (aerobics, badminton, kicking a feathery ball), others playing cards, some were dancing in exotic costumes and my absolute favourite, about 50 of them chanting these jawdroppingly beautiful songs. It was freezing at 8 am and they were all so active!
Thanks for sharing, Paula!