Last Full Day in Beijing -- Friday, June 9

Today was our last full day in Beijing. Our first stop of the day was the Temple of Heaven. It was commissioned by the Ming Emperor Yongle (Yung Lu), the third Ming Emperor who moved the capital city from Nanching to Beijing. The Temple of Heaven is really a fabulous park that is frequented by many locals. When we arrived in the morning, there were lots of locals practicing Tai Qi, playing cards and Chinese checkers and flying kites.

When China was ruled by the imperial dynasties, the Emperors would come to the Temple of Heaven three times annually to worship the god of heaven and pay homage to their ancestors. The Emperors would pray for a good harvest. During their time of worship, the emperors made “great” personal sacrifices and abstained from meat and even their concubines for three days.

The main building within the Temple of Heaven is the Hall of Prayer and Good Harvest. It is circular structure supported by 28 interior beams. There are no nails used in the structure. As you can see from the photo, the Hall of Prayer and Good Harvest is quite intricate and colorful. It was recently refurbished for the 2008 Olympic Games and is absolutely splendid.

After the Temple of Heaven, we toured a Hu Tong, which is a traditional neighborhood with very narrow streets. We were passengers in bicycle powered rickshaws while touring the Hu Tong. We visited a very hectic fruit and vegetable market and had lunch at a family's house. The food was surprisingly quite good.

We then returned to our hotel for a couple of hours to clean up before a Chinese Acrobat show. During this down time, I went to world famous Yangfujing shopping district which is two blocks from our hotel. I bought two knock off Polo shirts from a street vendor right outside the shopping district for approximately $18. Our guide told me I got swindled and shouldn't have paid more than $10 for the pair. I will have to negotiate harder in the future. The Yangfujing shopping district is very trendy and you pretty much find anything there that you would be able to get in Vegas or New York.

The acrobat show we went to tonight was an amazing display of strength, flexibility, balance and agility. The finale featured 13 female acrobats forming a peacock as they rode one bicycle around in a circle. Here are some pictures from the show.

Following the show, we had dinner with our guide at a local restaurant and had Peking duck. I have got to say, it was not my favorite.

That's it for now. Tomorrow we leave for Guangzhou. In approximately 36 hours, we will get Maizie. Carrie and I can hardly stand waiting any longer, although the time has flown by while in Beijing. We’ll try to post more tomorrow after we get to Guangzhou.

When China was ruled by the imperial dynasties, the Emperors would come to the Temple of Heaven three times annually to worship the god of heaven and pay homage to their ancestors. The Emperors would pray for a good harvest. During their time of worship, the emperors made “great” personal sacrifices and abstained from meat and even their concubines for three days. It must have been quite a sacrifice as the Emperors would have up to 3,000 concubines.

The main building within the Temple of Heaven is the Hall of Prayer and Good Harvest. It is circular structure supported by 28 interior beams. There are no nails used in the structure. As you can see from the photo, the Hall of Prayer and Good Harvest is quite intricate and colorful. It was recently refurbished for the 2008 Olympic Games and is absolutely splendid.

After the Temple of Heaven, we toured a Hu Tong, which is a traditional neighborhood with very narrow streets. We were passengers in bicycle powered rickshaws while touring the Hu Tong. We visited a very hectic fruit and vegetable market and had lunch at a family's house. The food was surprisingly quite good.

We then returned to our hotel for a couple of hours to clean up before a Chinese Acrobat show. During this down time, I went to world famous Yangfujing shopping district which is two blocks from our hotel. I bought two knock off Polo shirts from a street vendor right outside the shopping district for approximately $18. Our guide told me I got swindled and shouldn't have paid more than $10 for the pair. I will have to negotiate harder in the future. The Yangfujing shopping district is very trendy and you can pretty much find anything there that you would be able to get in Vegas or New York.

The acrobat show we went to tonight was an amazing display of strength, flexibility, balance and agility. The finale featured 13 female acrobats forming a peacock as they rode one bicycle around in a circle. Here are some pictures from the show.

Following the show, we had dinner with our guide at a local restaurant and had Peking duck. I have got to say, it was not my favorite.

That's it for now. Tomorrow we fly to Guangzhou. In approximately 36 hours, we will get Maizie. Carrie and I can hardly stand waiting any longer, although the time has flown by while in Beijing. We’ll try to post more tomorrow after we get to Guangzhou.