temple of heaven park

你好
ni haaaaao

last saturday i revisited my favorite place in beijing with my BLCU classmates... the temple of heaven! i loved visiting over the summer on my weekend trip to beijing, because of the unique architecture, the old-china atmosphere, and the huge procession ways that send your imagination spinning. you can totally envision an imperial ceremony taking place with hundreds of people, animals, etc.

somewhere in the temple's history, the surrounding park became a gathering place for beijingers... the opening scene of "farewell my concubine" takes place in the 1920s and there are kungfu groups and opera singers performing, people selling street food, and socializing. today, those traditions live on, as you can see below! i really feel this is the most authentic place to spend time in the city. it's lao beijing [old beijing] at it's proudest.

calligraphy using water and brush-shaped sponges on a stick


calligraphy for beginners


bakhtiyar and i overlooking the actual temple complex


one of countless groups of senior citizens drinking tea and playing cards, majong, or dominos


a father and son watching a chorus performance (which eventually made my day by switching gears and belting out celine dion's "my heart will go on"). everyone knows that one of my favorite things about china is seeing parents and especially grandparents out with grandchildren. spending time with the extended family is paramount here, and people truly enjoy it. it makes your heart happy to see!


the piercing, high-pitched peking opera with traditional music


ballroom dancing! at least a hundred couples, some with loads of style. these two old men gave emma and faith a warm welcome and included them with some simple steps. sooooooo cute... i got a turn eventually too!



so that was our lovely saturday morning at tiantan, temple of heaven. in the afternoon, we had lunch together, then went to the famous beijing pearl market. al the boys got sweet gifts for their ladies back home, and fake cologne downstairs for themselves, ha. i may or may not have purchased some gifts for a loved one back at the ranch...!!!! anyway, the highlight of this shopping expedition was testing how much our bargaining skills have improved (aka, a lot). the pearl market has a reputation for being much more reasonable than other markets... and i still managed to take 1/3 or 1/2 off my prices. i think my strongest points are:

1) even when i am trying, i sort of look like a slob. i am always too lazy/forgetful to put on jewelry or anything nicer than tennis shoes, so the "poor student" thing goes a long way for me.
2) my chinese has gotten good enough for me to talk in circles and at least nudge for native-speaker pricing.
3) i give harsh speeches about how my mother is chinese and will get angry and "DA" me if the quality of what i am buying sucks (oops... did i just give something away?!)
4) i will take the tiiiiiime. from my experience, this is the most effective method. people get so tired of you! they eventually want to have money in their hands and have you go away. on my biggest ticket item i spent 45 minutes choosing, getting to know the salespeople, haggling, and finally buying.

on the downside, shopping in china is exhausting. you come home feeling like you have run a marathon or fought a battle. if xmas shopping kills us at home, can you imagine what it would be like here?!

all in all, saturday was a very "beijing" day :)