The Temple of Heaven was built in the 15th century as a sacred site for Beijing. The emperor would visit to pray for good harvest by "fasting" (a vegetarian diet was consumed) and having an animal slaughtered. The Temple has several buildings. Today much of it is used as a park, where locals buy annual passes and practice Tai Chi and play cards and other games, and sing.
The weather was very warm Saturday - at least 65 degrees. It should be warmer yet in our next stops, which are further south.
Saturday night we flew to Xi'An on Hainan airlines. It was very efficient, and all of our bags were available very quickly. Xi'an is geographically half the size of Beijing, and has a population of 8 million. It was very quiet at first, with very little traffic on the road. But then we arrived in the bustling city center. Our hotel is located across the street from the Bell Tower, which was built in 1384, then moved to its new location at the heart of the city in 1582. It is very well preserved. Xi'an is surrounded by an ancient city wall, which is the most complete city wall that survived in China. It was builint in the Tang Dynasty (618-907). We will see the Terra Cotta Warriors and Horse this morning. The first emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang, ordered the construction of 8,000 life-sized Terra Cotta warriors, which were buried with him as protection. The site was discovered in 1974 by famers
digging a well.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment