Mid-Autumn Festival At The Temple Of Heaven

The Temple of Heaven (literally the Altar of Heaven-天坛) is situated in the southeastern part of central Beijing, being constructed from 1406-1420. This complex was visited by the Emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties for annual ceremonies of prayer to Heaven for good harvest. During ancient times, the Emperor of China was regarded as the Son of Heaven, who administered earthly matters on behalf of the people. Twice a year the Emperor and all his retinue would move from the Forbidden city through Beijing to encamp within the complex, wearing special robes and abstaining from eating meat. No ordinary Chinese was allowed to view this procession or the following ceremony. It is regarded as a Taoist temple, although Chinese Heaven worship pre-dates Taoism. Symbolisms: Earth was represented by a square and Heaven by a circle. This is why both the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests and the Circular Mound Altar are round, each standing on a square yard. (Wikipedia.com)

An excerpt from Tina Ashcraft's blog:

"Afterward, I met up with Adam, Josh, Abby, and Kayli and we headed off to see the Temple of Heaven. We thought it was going to be a short event. Take a couple photos and leave—that kind of thing. But it actually ended up taking all day and we had so much fun. Can I say best day ever?

"Adam traded his broken Mao Zedong watch (the one he smashed on the alpine slide) for a ‘working’ Mao Zedong with one of the seedy watch merchants. He was happy he managed to trade it for only 17 kuai, and he walked away so proud. Only later, when he went to show someone the time, he realized the new watch had already stopped working. haha

"Leaving that section, we were mobbed by a group of Chinese tourists who wanted their photos with us. First it was three Chinese people, then it was six, then ten, then a mob of twenty people were trying to squeeze in with the waiguoren. This is some serious stuff, guys. “You need a confidence booster? Come to China.” (That was my quote!)

"We moved on to the last area, which is comprised of three rings. There was a large, outer, circular court, a level of steps and a second, circular court, and the top circular court is where most of the tourists were gathering. Adam and I taught everyone how to polka. Yeah, I’m that cool. I’ve done the polka at the Temple of Heaven.



"When we were leaving, Adam was approached by another seedy watch salesperson, and he couldn’t resist trying one last time. He managed a trade again, this time paying only 4 kuai. Good job Adam, good job. That watch has now cost how much now? Somewhere around 75 kuai? (¥71 to be exact…) A waving Mao is clearly important to him. Of course, five minutes later Adam looks down: “ai-ya!” Once again his watch wasn’t working. Hahaha. Poor kid. We dubbed it: ‘The day Mao stopped waving.’

"Walking to the far side of the Temple of Heaven, there is a very large, wooded park area where many folk were engaged in various forms of bi-pedal exercises. Following Adams advice, Josh randomly challenged some marathon runners to a footrace. They were off—and, last second, Adam decided to join too. They were already a ways ahead, but Adam still ended up beating the three Chinese men and gaining second. Congrats, you two! You beat marathon runners at a sprint."

We ended the evening celebration eating the traditional "yuebing" (Moon Cakes).