Climate & Weather Report

Introduction

As the capital of the People's Republic of China, Beijing has has 10 districts and 8 counties accommodating a population of over 12 million with half of them 6 million living in the city proper. The birth rate is 0.896% , the mortality rate is 0.576%, and the density of population in the urban area is 27,666 people per square kilometer. People from all the 56 nationalities of China live in Beijing. The people of minority nationalities account for 3.8% of the total population, among which Hui, Manchu and Mongolia nationalities predominate. Major religious beliefs of the residents of Beijing are Buddhism, Taoism, Islamism, Catholicism and Christianity. The first three have exerted greater influence on the history, culture and art of Beijing. There are 90 places of worships, and adherents of different religions amount to 75,000. 

In the past five decades, public transportation developed rapidly.  In 1949 when the People's Republic of China was founded and Beijing was settled as the capital, there were only 5 buses and 49 tramcars for a city of 2 million people. But now there are some 12,000 buses, two subway lines (with another one is under construction), five ring highways and numerous of flyovers.  More and more families have their own cars, and incredible number of apartment buildings have been built or under the construction. There are nearly 100 institutions of higher learning (including branch schools), over 800 middle schools and about 2,800 primary schools in Beijing with a total  enrollment of over 2 million. In medical and health care, the city has more than 629 hospitals, 65,600 sick beds, with over 116,200 medical workers. 

Beijing is centered around the Forbidden City and Tianan'men Square, and as a result of the capitals of Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, Beijing enjoys a lot of historical relics and buildings, such as the Summer Palace, Temple of Heaven, Great Wall, etc. Being the political and cultural center of China, Beijing is moving its factories to the suburbs or other neighboring cities for the sake of environment, and the government has determined as Beijing as a cultural, tourist and commercial city instead of an industrial city. 

There is of course the famous Beijing-duck, also imperial dishes, Mongolian hot-pot and barbecue, Korean pickled vegetables and barbecue, McDonald's, Japanese cooking and all kinds of snacks you can imagine or can never imagine from all over China and the world. Beijing's hotels grow fast in recent years both in number and in service quality. There are Beijing Hotel, Palace Tower, the Sheratons, several Shangri-Las, the classiest, the New Worlds, Hilton, and Holiday Inns.           

Forbidden City

The Palace Museum, also known as the Purple Forbidden City, is the largest and most well preserved imperial residence in China today. The construction began in 1406 by the Ming Emperor Yongle, and finished in 1420. The first ruler who actually lived here was Ming Emperor Zhudi. For five centuries thereafter, it continued to be the residence of 23 successive emperors until 1911 when Qing Emperor Puyi was forced to abdicate the throne. In 1987, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization recognized the Forbidden City as a world cultural legacy.

It is believed that the Palace Museum, or Zi Jin Cheng in Chinese, got its name from astronomy and folklore. The ancient astronomers divided the constellations into groups and centered them around the Zi Wei Yuan (North Star). The constellation containing the North Star was called the Constellation of Heavenly God and the star itself was called the purple palace. Because the emperor was supposedly the son of the heavenly gods, his central and dominant position would be further highlighted by the use of the word purple in the name of his residence. In folklore, the term "an eastern purple cloud is drifting" became a metaphor for auspicious events after a purple cloud was seen drifting eastward immediately before the arrival of an ancient philosopher, Lao Zi, to the Hangu Pass. Here, purple is associated with auspicious developments. The word jin (forbidden) is self-explanatory as the imperial palace was heavily guarded and off-limits to ordinary people.

The red and yellow used on the palace walls and roofs are also symbolic. Red represents happiness, good fortune and wealth. Yellow is the color of the earth on the Loess Plateau, the original home of the Chinese people. Yellow became an imperial color during the Tang dynasty, when only members of the royal family were allowed to wear it and use it in their architecture.

The Forbidden City is rectangular in shape. It is 960 meters long from north to south and 750 meters wide from east to west. It has 9,900 rooms under a total roof area 150,000 square meters. A 52-meter-wide-moat encircles a 9.9-meter-high wall which encloses the complex. Octagon-shaped turrets rest on the four corners of the wall. There are four entrances into the city: the Meridian Gate to the south, the Shenwu Gate (Gate of Military Prowess) to the north, and the Xihua Gate (Western Flowery Gate) to the west, the Donghua (Eastern Flowery Gate) to the east. Manpower and materials throughout the country were used to build the Forbidden City. A total of 230, 000 artisans and one million laborers were employed. Marble was quarried from Fangshan County on the outskirts of Beijing. Five-colored rocks were cut from Mount Pan in Jixian County in Hebei Province. Granite was quarried in Quyang County in Hebei Province. Paving blocks were fired in kilns in Suzhou in southern China. Bricks and scarlet pigmentation used on the palatial walls came from Linqing in Shandong Province. Timber was cut, processed and hauled from the northwestern and southern regions.

Meridian Gate is the main entrance to the Forbidden City. It is also known as Wufenglou (Five-Phoenix Tower). Ming emperors held lavish banquets here on the 15th day of the first month of the Chinese lunar year in honor of their courtiers. They also used this place for punishing officials by flogging them with sticks.

Qing emperors used this building to announce the beginning of the new year. Qing Emperor Qianlong changed the original name of this announcement ceremony from ban li ( announcement of calendar ) to ban shou (announcement of new moon) to avoid coincidental association with another Emperor's name, Hongli, which was considered a taboo at that time. Qing Dynasty emperors also used this place to hold audience and for other important ceremonies. For example, when the imperial army returned victoriously from the battlefield, it was here that the Emperor presided over the ceremony to accept prisoners of war.

To complete this solemn, magnificent and palatial complex, a variety of building patterns were applied. Most important, all of the palaces and their accommodating buildings were arranged on a north-south axis, an 8-kilometer-long invisible line that has become an inseparable part of the City of Beijing. The Forbidden City covers roughly one-third of this central axis. Most of the important building in the Forbidden City were arranged along this line. The design and arrangement of the palaces reflect the solemn dignity of the royal court and the rigidly-stratified feudal system.

The Forbidden City is divided into an outer and an inner court. We are now standing on the southernmost part of the outer court. In front of us lies the Gate of Supreme Harmony. The gate is guarded by a pair of bronze lions, symbolizing imperial power and dignity. The lions were the most exquisite and the biggest of its kind. The one on the east playing with a ball is a male, and the ball is said to represent state unity. The other one is a female. Underneath one of its fore claws is a cub that is considered to be a symbol of perpetual imperial succession. The winding brook before us is the Golden Water River. It functions both as decoration and fire control. The five bridges spanning the river represent the five virtues preached by Confucius : benevolence, righteousness, rites, intelligence and fidelity. The river takes the shape of a bow and the north-south axis is its arrow. This was meant to show that the Emperors ruled the country on behalf of God.

The Forbidden City consists of an outer courtyard and an inner enclosure. The outer courtyard covers a vast space lying between the Meridian Gate and the Gate of Heavenly Purity. The "three big halls" of Supreme Harmony, Complete Harmony and Preserving Harmony constitute the center of this building group. Flanking them in bilateral symmetry are two groups of palaces: Wenhua ( Prominent Scholars) and Wuying (Brave Warriors).

The three great halls are built on a spacious "H"-shaped, 8-meter-high, triple marble terrace. Each level of the triple terrace is taller than the one below and all are encircled by marble balustrades carved with dragon and phoenix designs. There are three carved stone staircases linking the three architectures. The Hall of Supreme Harmony is also the tallest and most exquisite ancient wooden-structured mansion in all of China. From the Palace of Heavenly Purity northward is what is known as the inner court, which is also built in bilaterally symmetrical patterns. In the center are the Palace of Heavenly Purity, the Hall of Union and Peace and the Palace of Earthly Tranquility, a place where the Emperors lived with their families and attended to state affairs. Flanking these structures are palaces and halls in which concubines and princes lived. There are also three botanical gardens within the inner court, namely, the Imperial Garden, Cining Garden and Qianlong Garden. An inner Golden Water River flows eastwardly within the inner court. The brook winds through three minor halls or palaces and leads out of the Forbidden City. It is spanned by the White Jade Bridge. The river is lined with winding, marble-carved balustrades. Most of the structures within the Forbidden City have yellow glazed tile roofs.

Aside from giving prominence to the north-south axis, other architectural methods were applied to make every group of palatial structures unique in terms of terraces, roofs, mythical monsters perching on the roofs and colored, drawing patterns. With these, the grand contour and different hierarchic spectrum of the complex were strengthened. Folklore has it that there are altogether 9,999 room-units in the Forbidden City. Since Paradise only has 10,000 rooms, the Son of Heaven on earth cut the number by half a room. It is also rumored that this half-room is located to the west of the Wenyuange Pavilion (imperial library). As a matter of fact, although the Forbidden City has more than 9,000 room-units, this half-room is nonexistent. The Wenyuange Pavilion is a library where "Si Ku Quan Shu"- China's first comprehensive anthology-was stored.                                                                  

The Great Wall

The Great Wall, symbolizing China's ancient civilization, is one of the world's most renowned projects. It is a distance of 75 kilometers northwest of Beijing. Its highest point at Badaling is some 800 meters above sea level.

Construction of the Wall first began during the period of the Warring States (476 - 221 BC). Formerly, walls were built at strategic points by different kingdoms to protect their northern territories. In 221 BC after the first Emperor of the Qin Dynasty unified China, he decided to have the walls linked up and extended. Historical records show that about one million people, one-fifth of China's population at the time, were involved in the project which took more than ten years. When it was finished we call it "Wan Li Chang Cheng" which means "Ten Thousand-Li-Long Wall". Now, nature has taken over most of the Great Wall. The Great Wall which we are going to visit was rebuilt during the Ming Dynasty in the 16th century. It extends from Shanhaiguan Pass, a seaport along the coast of Bohai Bay, to Jiayuguan Pass in Gansu Province. Its total length is more than 6,700 kilometers. There were many places of strategic importance along the Wall. Fortresses were constructed at strategic points. Beacon towers were built on both sides of the Wall at commanding points. Whenever the enemy was sighted, bonfires were lit on the towers to signal warning messages.

Before the Ming Dynasty, the Wall was built mainly of earth and rock. Under the Ming, it was rebuilt in most places with bricks and stones. For instance, the section at Badaling near Beijing was faced with slabs of rock and large bricks and filled with earth and stones. It is 6 to 7 meters high. At regular intervals along the southern side of the Wall, there are gates with stone steps leading to the top of the Wall. The top surface of the wall is paved with three or four layers of large bricks. It is 4 to 5 meters wide, enough for five horsemen to ride abreast. Along the Wall, there are parapets and battlements built of bricks and turrets and watchtowers at regular intervals.

The Wall traverses mountains and gullies. It was extremely difficult to build along steep slopes under harsh conditions. Some of the slabs of rock were as long as two meters and weighed as much as one ton. All the rocks, bricks and lime had to be carried up the mountains at the cost of backbreaking labor. The earth and bricks were passed up from hand to hand or carried in baskets by donkeys and goats. The large slabs were moved up slopes by means of rolling rods and hoisting bars. According to rough calculation, the amount of bricks and rock used to build the Wall would have been enough to build a wall five meters high and one meter thick around the world. The Badaling section is the best preserved part of the Wall. Several renovations have taken place since 1949. It is listed by the Chinese Government as one of the historical monuments to be preserved. The Great Wall runs 629 kilometers in the Beijing area. More than 100 kilometers are well preserved and two other sections at Badaling and Mutianyu have already been renovated for tourists both at home and abroad. The Great Wall is the great creation of ancient Chinese people. It was listed by the (UNESCO) as one of the world cultural legacy in 1987.          

The Ming Tombs

The Ming Dynasty lasted from 1368 to 1644. The first Ming emperor had his tomb built in Nanjing, the town which he had chosen for his capital. As his eldest son died early, he was succeeded by his grandson, who became the second emperor. His fourth son, the Prince of Yan, was guarding the northern frontier near Beijing with an army 100,000 strong. The second emperor attempted to weaken his forces but was met with counter-attacks. After a 3-year war he was ousted and lost track of completely. So, the fourth son became the third emperor, Emperor Yongle, of the Ming Dynasty.

As a frontier commander, he was aware that a peaceful northern frontier was of great importance to the Ming Palace, he chose this valley to build his tomb. All his successors followed his example and had their tombs built here, except one who was dethroned and buried in the western suburb. Out of the sixteen emperors, thirteen lie here with their empresses and concubines. The site was chosen with the greatest care, with geomancy taken into account. The tombs are located about 50 kilometers to the north of Beijing. They are scattered over a basin approximately 40 square kilometers in area, screened by mountains on three sides and open to the Beijing Plain in the south. The road leading to the tombs is guarded by the Tiger Hill on the left and the Dragon Hill on the right. It was a forbidden ground except for those who were officially in charge of its upkeep. It was not allowed to cultivate land, cut wood or to take stones from here. No one could enter it on horseback, even the emperor himself had to dismount at the gate. The road was opened up in 1979 with the increase in the number of Chinese and foreign visitors. Along the road, we'll find the Memorial Arch, the Big Red Gate, the Tablet House, the stone animals and statues and the Ming Tombs Reservoir. We'll also see a lot of fruit trees planted after the founding of the People's Republic. This road was known as sacred road,  7 kilometers long, from the Memorial Arch to the gate of the main tomb. The body of the dead was carried over the route at funeral ceremony.  

The Memorial Arch, built of white marble, was erected in 1540. It is 12 meters high and 31 meters wide, and has 5 arches supported by 6 pillars with beautiful bas-relief carvings of lions, dragons and lotus flowers. Double lintels link the six pillars. The roofing is made of round marble tiles, with upturned corners.  The Big Red Gate was built in 1426. It used to have three huge wooden doors. The central opening was used by the dead emperor alone, and living ministers and imperial family members had to use one of the side openings when they came to pay homage to the deceased emperors.

About 500 yards (A yard is equal to 0.914 meter.) from the Big Red Gate stands the Tablet House built in 1435. A marble column, known as huabiao, stands at each corner of the Tablet House. A huge tablet, 7 meters high, stands in the middle of the house on the back of a tortoise. The front side bears an inscription by the fourth Ming emperor. On the reverse side is an inscription carved during Qing Emperor Qianlong's reign. It described the reconstruction of the Ming Tombs in 1785 and commented on the rules and styles of the Ming Tombs. Now we come to the famous avenue of stone animals and statues. Stone animals and statues are found at the entrance to imperial tombs from the Han Dynasty onwards, but none of the group is as famous as that of the Ming Tombs.

The avenue starts with two columns, called wangzhu in Chinese, one on each side. They are hexagonal, carved with a cloud design, and the top is shaped like a round cylinder. The animals are lions, xiezhi, camels, elephants, qilin and horses, one kneeling and the other standing, twelve on each side and twenty-four in all. Xiezhi was a mythical beast or the feline family, said to be able to distinguish right and wrong. Qilin was a sort of imaginary animal with a scaly body, a cow's tail, deer's hooves and horns on its head. With "the Sacred Road" turning slightly, the statues appear: two military officers wearing sabers, two civilian officials and two ministers of merit. Six statues on each side and twelve in all. These animals and statues all date from the 15th century. It is interesting to compare them with those at the tomb of the first Ming emperor in Nanjing, which are scarcely any older and yet much less fine. They were all meant to serve the dead in the next world. They do give people a sense of solemnity on the way leading to the Tombs.                 

The Summer Palace

The construction of the Summer Palace first started in 1750. At that time, the Qing Dynasty was in its heyday and China was a powerful Asian country with a vast territory. With supreme power and large sums of money, Emperor Qianlong summoned skillful and ingenious artisans from all over the country to carry out this construction work in honor of his mother's birthday. After 15 years and one seventh of the nation's annual revenue spent, the Garden of Clear Ripples was completed and served as a testimony to China's scientific and technological achievements. In 1860, this vast royal garden was burnt down along with the Yuanming Yuan (Garden of Perfection and Brightness) by Anglo-French allied forces. In 1888, Empress Dowager Cixi reconstructed the garden on the same site and renamed it the Garden of Nurtured Harmony (Summer Palace). Characterized by its vast scope and rich cultural embodiments, the Summer Palace has become one of the most famous tourist sites in the world.

The Summer Palace can be divided into two parts: Longevity Hill and Kunming Lake. The whole garden covers an area of 290 hectares, of which three---fourths consists of a lake and rivers. This imperial garden features 3,000 room-units and covers an expanse of 70,000 square meters, with more than 100 picturesque spots of interest. The layout of the Summer Palace includes three groups of architectures: palaces where the emperor attended to state affairs, resting places of the emperor and empress, and sightseeing areas. Entering the East Gate we will come to the office quarters. The annex halls on both sides were used for officials on duty.

Qilin or Xuanni was said to be one of the nine sons of the Dragon King. A point of peculiar interest is that it has the head of a dragon. antlers of a deer. the tail of a lion and hooves of an ox, and is covered with a unique skin. It was considered an auspicious creature that brought peace and prosperity. The Hall of Benevolence and Longevity. It was built in 1750, and was known as the Hall of Industrious Government. Emperor Qianlong ruled that the halls where monarchs attended to state affairs would be named after them. After the rebuilding of the Summer Palace, the hall was renamed, suggesting that benevolent rulers would enjoy long lives. The arrangement of the hall has been left untouched. In the middle of the hall stands a throne made of sandalwood and carved with beautiful designs. In the background there is a screen carved with nine frolicking dragons. On either side of the throne there are two big fans made of peacock feathers, two column-shaped incense burners, crane-shaped lanterns and an incense burner assuming the form of Luduan, a mythological animal which was supposed to have the power to prevent fire. The small chambers on either side were where the Emperor Qianlong and Empress Dowager Cixi rested and met officials on formal occasions.

On the verandah in the foreground of the hall there are bronze statues of dragons and phoenixes, which served as incense burners on major occasions. They are hollow and smoke comes through holes on their backs. Also on the veranda are Tai Ping (Peace) bronze water vats made during the reign of Emperor Qianlong. As a precaution in case of fire, a fire was lit underneath the vats in the winter to keep the water in them from freezing. The  Garden of Virtuous Harmony was the place Emperor Qianlong and Empress Dowager Cixi were entertained with Beijing Opera performances. It mainly consists of the Dressing House, the Grand Theater Building and the Hall of Pleasure Smiles. The Grand Theater Building known as the "Cradle of Beijing Opera" was uniquely laid out and magnificently decorated. On September 10, 1984, the Garden of Virtuous Harmony opened its doors to visitors. There are also 7 exhibition halls with articles of daily use on display here. The staff here put up court dresses of Qing Dynasty in order to give the visitor a more vivid impression.

The Hall of Jade Ripples was first used by Emperor Qianlong to attend to state affairs. It was also where Emperor Guangxu of the late Qing dynasty was kept under house arrest. This hall is a hallmark of the Reform Movement of 1898. Emperor Guangxu was Empress Dowager Cixi's nephew. After Emperor Tongzhi died, Empress Dowager Cixi made her nephew, who was at that time four years old a successor in order to continue her wielding of power behind the scenes. When Emperor Guangxu was 19 years old, Empress Dowager Cixi relinquished power to him but continued to exert considerable influence. In 1898, the Reform Movement took place with the aim of sustaining the core principles of the Qing Dynasty while reforming outdated laws. The movement lasted for 103 days until it was suppressed by Empress Dowager Cixi. The emperor's six earnest reformists were beheaded and Emperor Guangxu was placed under house arrest which lasted for 10 years. All the back doors were sealed and a brick wall was put up behind the wooden partition on each side of the two annexes of the courtyard. Emperor Guangxu was closely watched by eunuchs. The wall remains intact for tourists to see.

The Long Corridor is one of the major structures of the Summer Palace. Since the corridor was designed to follow the physical features of the southern slope of Longevity Hill, four multiple-eased, octagonal pavilions ( Beauty-Retaining Pavilion. Enjoy-the -Ripples Pavilion, Autumn Water Pavilion and Clarity Distance Pavilion) were placed at bends and undulation. Thus sightseers will hardly notice the rise and fall of the terrain. As a major part of the architectural style of the Summer Palace, the Long Corridor serves as an ingenious connector between the Lake and the Hill. Scattered buildings on the southern slope were linked to create a unified complex.

The aged Empress Dowager Cixi was so fond of the Summer Palace that she decided to live here from April through October of every year. Her residence consists of a forecourt and a backyard with annex courts on each side. The whole compound was basically made of wood, which is ideal for ventilation and lighting. With its quiet and tasteful layout, the Hall of Happiness and Longevity made life very easy and convenient. No wonder one of Empress Dowager Cixi's ladies-in-waiting praised the hall as the best place to live in all of Beijing. On the facade of the courtyard is the main entrance, and not far from it lies a pier reserved for Empress Dowager Cixi's pleasure boat. On the pier there is a tall lantern post. Flanking the staircase leading to the main entrance of the hall, there are bronze cranes, deer and vases, symbolizing universal peace. The interior layout is the same as the imperial court, with throne, a large table and incense burners placed in the middle. At mealtime, eunuchs-in-waiting would make a gigantic table out of this table and Empress Dowager Cixi would dine on 128 courses. Because of this more than l,800 tales of silver would be spent each month on meals. On the east side of the Living Room is the Cloak Room. The bedroom is on its west.

An octagonal structure with three stories and quadruple eaves, the Tower of Buddhist Incense is the very center of the Summer Palace, and is one of the masterpieces of ancient Chinese architecture. The tower is 41 meters in height, and is buttressed by 8 solid pillars made of lignum vitae logs. With its complex structure, ingenious layout, towering terrace and convincing grandeur, the Tower of Buddhist Incense was artfully set out by the imperial gardens and beautiful scenery surrounding it. The Tower overlooks Kunming Lake and other picturesque spots within an area of tens of kilometers. On the west side of the Tower stands Baoyunge          (Precious Cloud Pavilion). It is made of bronze and is 7.5 meters in height and 270 tons in weight. It resembles its wooden counterparts in every detail. It is one of the largest and most exquisite bronze pavilions still in existence in China. Lamas prayed here during the reign of Emperor Qianlong in honor of the monarchs and their families. At the turn of the century 10 bronze windows were spirited abroad. In 1992 an American company bought the windows and returned them intact to China.

The long and snaking Western Causeway and a shorter dike divides Kunming Lake into three areas that contain South Lake Island, Seaweed-Viewing Island and Circle City Island. The three islands represent three mountains in ancient Chinese mythology, i.e. Penglai, Fangzhang and Yingzhou. This peculiar method of incorporating a lake and three mountains within a single garden was a brainchild of Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty more than 2,000 years ago, bearing testimony to feudal monarchs' longing for longevity. As the legend goes many heavenly elixirs grew on the three mythical islands. Using artificial building techniques, the ancient Chinese built this masterpiece based on the myth to make the mythical one appear to be accessible to humans.

Setting a garden within a larger garden has been one of China's traditional architectural styles. The Garden of Harmonious Interest serves as a fine example of this. This Garden was built under the order of Emperor Qianlong and modeled after the Jichang Garden (Garden of Ease of Mind) at the foot of Mount Huishan, Jiangsu Province. It was renamed by his son Emperor Jiaqing in 1811. The existing Garden was rebuilt by Emperor Guangxu. Empress Dowager Cixi used to go fishing here. The Garden features 10 waterfront platforms, pavilions and halls as well as hundreds of galleries.

Suzhou street was designed after the shops along the canals in Suzhou. Originally known as Emperor's Shopping Street, it was built during the reign of Emperor Qianlong. After making several inspection tours to South China and being duly impressed by its commercial prosperity, Emperor Qianlong ordered the construction of this street.

The imperial shopping street was burnt down by Anglo-French allied forces in 1860. The site remained desolate until 1987, when reconstruction began. It was opened to the public in September 1990. With commercial culture as its hallmark, the Suzhou Shopping Street is a vivid representation of China' s traditional cultures.

The famous Marble Boat. This structure is 36 meters in length and its body was made of marble. On top of it is a two-stored structure. The floor was paved with colored bricks. All of the windows are inlaid with multi-colored glass and the ceiling was decorated with carved bricks. The drainage system channels rain water down through four hollow concrete pillars and into the lake through the mouths of dragon heads.According to a book written by Emperor Qianlong, the boat was used for enjoying the scenery and was supposed to be symbolic of the stability of the Qing Dynasty. Halfway up the slope there stands the Hall for Listening to Orioles. The ancient Chinese liken the warble of an oriole to beautiful songs and melodies, hence the name of the hall which used to be a theater. Now the hall is one of the most famous restaurants in China, featuring imperial dishes and desserts. It is a must for many foreign visitors to have lunch here when they come to Beijing. More than one hundred heads of state worldwide have dined here and the late Premier Zhou Enlai has held banquets here in honor of state guests. (Sightseers who want to try the restaurant can go boating after they eat. Those who do not can go aboard right away. Those who do not feel like taking the boat can stroll along the Long Corridor to the outside of the East Gate).                                                                   

The Temple of Heaven

The Temple of Heaven is one of the most strictly protected and preserved cultural heritages of China. There are basically two kinds of visitors who come here: local pensioners who do exercises here in the morning and evening and sightseers both from home and abroad. All in all, there are 12 million visitors every year. The largest group of architectures ever to be dedicated to Heaven, the Temple of Heaven served as an exclusive altar for Chinese monarchs during the Ming and Qing dynasties. It was decreed that rulers of successive dynasties would place altars in their own capitals to worship Heaven and pray for good harvest. But why? The ancient Chinese believed that Heaven was the supreme ruler of the universe and the fate of mankind, and thus worshiping rites dedicated to Heaven came into being. The Heaven the ancient Chinese referred to was actually the Universe, or nature. In those days, there were specific rites of worship. This was especially true during the Ming and Qing dynasties when elaborate ceremonies were held.

The Temple of Heaven was built in 1420 during the reign of Emperor Yongle of the Ming Dynasty. Situated in the southern part of the city, this grand set of structures covers an area of 273 hectares. To better symbolize heaven and earth, the northern part of the Temple is circular while the southern part is square. The whole compound is enclosed by two walls, a square wall outside a round one. The outer area is characterized by suburban scenery, while the inner part is used for sacrifices. The inner enclosure consists of the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest and the Circular Mound Altar. 

The Circular Mound Altar is enclosed by two walls, each containing four groups of Southern Lattice Star Gate, each in turn consisting of three doors, with 24 marble doors altogether. Standing on the passage facing north, you will notice that with each pair of doors one is narrower than the other. This reflects the feudal hierarchy: the wider door was reserved for monarchs, while the narrower one was used by courtiers. On the day of the ceremony, the emperor would don his ritual costume and be ushered in by the official in charge of religious affairs. He ascended the three terraces in the forefront to pay tribute at the altar.

Each terrace of the altar has a flight of 9 steps. At the center of this terrace lies a round stone surrounded by 9 concentric rings of stone. The number of stones in the first ring is 9, in the second, 18, up to 81 in the 9th ring. Even the number of carved balustrades on these terraces is a multiple of 9.  According to ancient Chinese philosophy, yin and yang were two opposing factors. Heaven and the odd numbers belonged to yang while the Earth and even numbers belonged to yin. Nine was the largest heavenly number accessible to man. What is more, the ancient people also  believed that heaven consisted of nine layers and that the emperor's abode was on the uppermost tier.

Once more look at the round stone in the center. The upper terrace is nine zhang (a Chinese unit of length, one zhang equals 3.3 meters) in circumference, while the middle is 15 zhang, the lower, 21 zhang. Classified as yang numbers, the sum of these numerals is 45 zhang which was meant to symbolize success. What is more, by applying the concept of odd numbers and strengthening nine and its multiples, the concept of heaven was thus illustrated and realized. 

On the square in front of the altar, the emperor, under heavy escort of nearly a thousand courtiers, princes of royal blood, musicians, dancers and uniformed soldiers, would slowly ascend the altar to offer sacrifice and pray in honor of Heaven. when the service drew to a close, the sacrifice offered in front of the memorial tablets would be incinerated. All of participants would watch the thick smoke rise upward as if they were seeing God off. Music and dancing would follow. In the end, the emperor would return to the Forbidden City secure in the belief that he would be blessed and protected by Heaven until the next winter Solstice.

The stone in the very middle of the altar was of major importance, since it was where the emperor used to stand to say his prayer. The stone, which is known as the God's Heart Stone, is peculiar in that it is characterized by a specific acoustic phenomenon: it made the emperor's voice clearer and louder, thus adding to the mystic atmosphere of the service.

The Heaven's Storehouse's  roof, beams, and brackets are all made of glazed tiles or bricks. This is the only structure of its kind in China today. The Heaven's Storehouse was where memorial tablets dedicated to the gods were kept. Douglas Hurd, a former British foreign secretary, once said, "God attends to His affairs on the Circular Mound Altar but stays here. " 

The Imperial Vault of Heaven is the main structure of Heaven's Storehouse. It was built in 1530 and is 17 meters in height and 19 meters in diameter. The structure features blue roofs topped by a gilded ball, and carved wooden doors and windows. It is decorated with colored paintings. Founded on a 3-meter-high round marble terrace, the building also features a gigantic carved marble ramp laid in the stone staircase leading up to the front entrance. The ramp is carved in "Two Dragons Playing with a Pearl" design in relief. We will enter the main hall by going up the stone staircase on the eastern side.

The arch of the hall is buttressed by 16 giant pillars on two rings. On top of the pillars there are gilt brackets supporting a circular caisson, or covered ceiling. The ceiling is characterized by a golden coiling dragon design. The 8 pillars of the inner ring are painted scarlet and decorated with golden lotuses.

A mere whisper at any point close to the Echo Wall, a famous structure there, can be heard clearly on the other side, although the parties may be 40 or 50 meters apart. This is possible because the wall is round and hermetically constructed with smooth, solid bricks. In front of the steps leading away from the hall is the Triple- Sound Stone. If you stand on the first stone and call out or clap your hands, the sound will echo once; on the second stone, the sound will be heard twice; and on the third stone, the sound will repeat three times. Hence the name. 

The Temple of Heaven is also famous for its cypress trees-there are  more than 60, 000 cypress trees in all, among which over 4,000 are more than one hundred years old, adding to the solemn atmosphere of the temple. This tall cypress was planted more than 500 years ago. Its thick branches and twisting trunk resembling nine coiling playful dragons; thus it is known as the Nine-Dragon Cypress. It is said that this tree was here to welcome the monarchs.                                               

Yonghegong Lamasery

Yonghegong is a famous lamasery located in the northeastern part of the old city of Beijing. It was a palatial residence built in 1694 by Qing Emperor Kangxi for his fourth son, Prince Yongzheng who later succeeded to the throne. This magnificent temple consists of five main buildings lying on the north-south axis, with annex halls standing on both sides. The temple is listed by the Chinese Government as one of the important historical monuments under special preservation. After the death of his father, Emperor Yongzheng moved to the Forbidden City. The compound was closed to ordinary people and was renamed Yonghegong (the Palace of Harmony). Green roof tiles were replaced by yellow ones to suit a monarch's home. In 1744 his successor Emperor Qianlong converted the palace into a lamasery.                                                                                                                                                     (More..)