Temple of Heaven

After a late rise, we got a taxi to Tian'amen Square, in an attempt to pay a visit to Chairman Mao's Mausoleum. However, when we arrived we realised that his pickled corpse can only be viewed during certain hours of the day (only from 8.30-11.30am apart from on Tuesdays and Thursdays). Mao is obviously not an afternoon person, so we decide to get up early in the next few days, to pay him a visit.

As a result, we switch to plan B and head for the Temple of Heaven, to the South of Mao's Mausoleum. We decide to walk it and find that we arrive some time later after a half marathon, where a taxi started to look like the better option, and day turned to night! To be honest, the walk was good, as we got to take a glimpse down some of the narrow streets in a district of Hutongs. We might take a Hutong tour in the last few days of my stay if we can fit it in, which will give us the chance to experience the busy and decaying Hutong steets, which are typical of Chinese metropolitan life, but vanishing fast from central Beijing as the bulldozers loom!

its detail is spectacular, both artistically and architecturally.

When we enter the Temple of Heaven, we find that we only have around an hour to explore it, but to be honest i don't think it needs much more time. The Temple of Heaven itself is very impressive and its attention to detail is spectacular, both artistically and architecturally. Other than the temple itself, there are a few museum type buildings, displaying some of the artifacts from past dynasties, however photography was not allowed in those parts, so you will just have to take my word for it. All in all, i would say that the site upon which the Temple of Heaven itself stands, is equally impressive, and may even surpass some of the buildings in the Forbidden City....Well worth a visit solely to experience the beauty of the Temple of Heaven itself!