IN A NUTSHELL: Chorus and Dagoba
The Temple of Heaven, No Charge for Locals
I got off the subway at Tiananmen Square, which is also known as No Taxi Stopping Allowed Square, hoping
I could walk to the nearest street and hail one. When I got to the nearest street, though, all
the taxis were going the other direction (toward Tiananmen) and the only thing going my way were buses
(and lots of them) so I took my chances and hopped on a likely candidate. A few minutes later, I
got off again and a block away was the entrance.
Lucked out! There was a ticket booth, so I
bought the all-inclusive ticket, however, the ticket lady did not seem to be checking
anyone's ticket so I just kept walking. Then she pulled me aside and asked for my ticket in broken English
and I realized
that she was only checking the tourists. At first I was kind of grumbly about that, then I saw
how much the locals (mostly retired folk since it's a weekday) appreciated the park.
The park is Huge, filled with old trees planted in neat lines, occasional gazebos and walkways,
and groups of older Chinese folk doing
everything from tai chi to light aerobics to disco dancing. A fair share of tourists were also present.
I walked around for awhile
and eventually came up the symmetrically aligned temples. The tall wooden structure on the left below
is famous for having been built with no nails
(had I known that at the time, I would have looked) and the one on the right was taken from a strange
concrete monument that kind of looked at first like a helicopter pad or an incomplete temple.
Actually, it is a winter solstice viewing area that is notable for its structural use of 3s and 9s.
For example, there are three flat levels, each nine stairs apart, and at the top are tiles
in concentric circles. The first circle out has 9 tiles, the next 18, and the final circle out has 81.
I counted, stepping on each one like a Michael Jackson video. Other than that, though, it was well, just
a big, concrete flat thing (despite my attempt to be clever and take the photo between two posts looking out
onto the temples lined up beyond.)
Temple of Heaven Park
The Most Beautiful Thing I Saw More than all of the temples I saw,
I was moved by something else I witnessed at the Temple of Heaven. While walking, I heard singing
and drifted over to an area amidst the trees and flowers to find a whole group of people
gathered in song. It felt very spontaneous, as if a small group in the center had started
an old traditional song that everyone knew and people who were passing joined in. It was
a beautiful song and I was very impressed when a fellow in the center, leading the group, had
them harmonizing in groups. I didn't take a picture, and even hung back a bit,
because I could not interrupt something that beautiful. An older fellow came up to me and started
chatting with me. His English was not fluent, but it was excellent. He told me that they often
gathered and sung old songs about nature and flowers and love. (I was half worried they were nationalistic
songs which would stifle the feeling a bit, but they were not; they were universal songs.)
He was actually quite friendly and we talked a bit. Apparently, although it appeared spontaneous, there
was some order. He told me where the group would be gathered again in half an hour and, sure enough, there
they were. The songs were still beautiful and I could have listened quite awhile.
The Coke Was The Expensive Part
The Temple of Heaven was one place where no one tried to sell me anything the whole time I was inside.
However, the second I walked out the gates, I was hounded again, mostly with taxi offers.
I ignored them for the moment and walked down to the end of the street, randomly in the mood for ramen
and, lo and behold, a ramen shop appeared
(I could tell by the pictures.) I wouldn't exactly call it a high quality restaurant and
they clearly did not get many foreigners, but it was good enough. I ordered the item at the top,
crossed my fingers, and was served exactly what I wanted: beef ramen (way spicier
than anything I would get in Japan) and a coke. When I used
the gesture I learned from Kenyon that meant "Check, please" the woman came over and, apart from
giving me a receipt, gestured the price, and
it was here that I was glad I had practiced Chinese finger counting. Still, it was hard to
believe that she only wanted eight kwai - one dollar - for my lunch. Wow.
That Big White Tower Thing I apparently committed a no-no and
took a taxi that was parked at a tourist locale, but even if he did overcharge me a
bit (and I can't even be
sure that he did) he was polite, friendly, and it was the cleanest taxi I was in the whole trip.
(The sign that advertised "disinfected" may have been true here.) He took me to a big park sort
of northwestish of the Forbidden City. It doesn't have an easy-to-remember English equivalent
to the Chinese name ("Beihai Gongyuan") so I just called it the "Park With That Big White Thing."
The reason I went
there (as it is not listed as one of the top destinations in Lonely Planet) is simply BECAUSE of that
curious White Thing,
which I had seen both from the Forbidden City and from a couple taxis and finally found on my map.
Big Blurry White Thing
Dagoba... Dagoba... The park, garden, and lake were well
worth my time. The grounds were like a mini Summer Palace and atop a hill was the Big White Thing, which
is called "The White Dagoba". I paid several small amounts
several times on the walk up to the tower, but there is no actual way inside (not that it looks like
there are any windows, anyway.) However, the walk was very nice and near the top, I had a good view of
the red roofs of the Forbidden City. Around the lake (a much shorter walk than Summer Palace, luckily)
were a whole
lot of other temples. I'm thinking the Lonely Planet didn't make note of these because they
were under construction (and a few still were) but I enjoyed myself a lot. The best part was
this hard-to-find garden behind one of the temples. The sheer amount of rock used as well as
the elaborate walking paths, including occasional mini-caves, make Chinese gardens feel very
different from Japanese gardens, though both make good use of water and temple elements.
Pretty Garden
Guilt of Taxi Proportions I thought it would be simpler
to have the taxi driver just drop me off on this nice stretch of road along the university
so I could do some last minute shopping. I saw some other taxis parked so I told him that around there
was fine. He pulled over, but no sooner had he stopped then a police car with sirens flashing
pulled up nearby.
My driver pulled away fast and turned into the small university street. I looked behind me. There was an officer
with a camera leaning out of the passenger window taking pictures of all
the taxis (presumably to fine them later.) He might have seen the plates. I felt really bad since
I didn't know it was illegal to pull over there. (I am noticing a funny trend in Beijing: if there is
a really nice, wide avenue with plenty of space for taxis, then it is a no-stop zone.) I would
have just directed him to the hotel near where I was staying had I known; I REALLY hope
the poor guy didn't get in trouble because of me.
(Honestly, out of all the crazy things cars do in Beijing, I can't believe they restrict something simple
like where a taxi can pull over.)
Peking Duck! For the first time ever, I had Peking Duck!
We took a nice illegal taxi to a nice restaurant and my friends (who spoke Chinese) ordered
appetizers and duck! We were served a whole lot of other (very delicious) food before
the duck actually came, and when it did, it didn't come simply on a plate.
The duck itself, sliced in little crescent-moon-shaped pieces, was on one plate, a container
of mini-tortillas was on another, and little plates of cucumbers and mushrooms were included as well,
and finally, a little bowl of sauce. I was instructed on the correct technique which, similar
to fajitas, involved putting a bit of everything in a tortilla and eating! Yum! I could
tell the duck was not the least bit healthy or low-cal, but it was quite tasty. I've now eaten duck!
Cool! (And it wasn't even expensive... the pizza cost more.)
