So day 2 was spent at the Temple of Heaven. This was where the Emperor would go to pray for a good harvest twice a year. It was built in the early 1400's. This place was gorgeous! The gardens were beautiful - all the buildings had spectacular blue roofs that were supposed to represent heaven. The Temple of Heaven was much larger than the Forbidden City, I was surprised by that. But they believed that if the Emperor went to the Temple of Heaven to pray to God, then it should be bigger than where the Emperor lived. They had a really cool Echo Wall that surrounded some buildings - if you stood about 50 feet away from someone and spoke close to the wall, they could hear you. It kind of worked - and I already forget why they built that! There was even a building that was exclusively for the Emperor to change in! We walked along a peaceful sidewalk where we passed by a man playing some kind of flute. We stopped and listened and he ate it up! Not only did he play some Chinese songs, he played 'Yankee Doodle' and 'My Country 'Tis of Thee'. We loved hearing some patriotic music and he enjoyed all the pictures and video we took of him. We continued on to hear a beautiful concert of ancient music. After we finished up with the Temple we went to the Pearl Market. This place was incredible! If you looked anyone in the eye or stopped to look at something, you had to be prepared to firmly say 'no!' or barter. They always started really high and you had to give your lowest price and stick to it! I'll go into this later....it was quite an experience! Overall, an incredible day once again!
Proof that I actually used chopsticks the WHOLE time I was in China! I didn't use a fork once - that's amazing considering I'd never figured out how to use them until I got to the land of chopsticks!
Dave's brother Matt being goofy.
Bruce, me, Dave and Matt at one of the temples.
Me and Dad Coleman, he was such a trooper every day and was a wonderful resource - he knew so much about all the places we visited! I have to say he's become a real buddy of mine! He's a lot of fun!
5 comments:
Sounds so FUN! Thanks for sharing your trip with us! We totally need to let them play this week! Lets plan something!:)
I want to go back! I think I may have a chopstick week at home...I miss them! And the pearl market...I can't go shopping without thinking "man, I would have gotten this way cheaper in China!"
ooooh i love seein all the fun pictures. what an amazing time. i don't think i would figure the chopstick thing out ever!!! :)
so when can G&R Rosado go to China with the Colemans??
Wow- that looks amazing- it would be soo neat to see the Blue roofs in person:) Way to go with learning how to use chopsticks!!!
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