I constructed the the temple of heaven. Whew!

I mentioned in one of my blog posts that I and my family visited Beijing in 2011 (read related post here: http://twentyfourcandles.blogspot.com.au/2011/10/i-heart-beijing.html). One of the important sites we visited is the Temple or the Altar of Heaven, a vast complex which houses three temple halls that the great emperors of ancient dynasties visited to pray to the heavens for good harvest.  Described as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the temple is regarded as a masterpiece of architecture and landscape design.

As with the other architectural designs of ancient Beijing, we were awestruck with the magnificence of the temple so we decided to buy one of the souvenirs being sold. My father insisted that we buy the wooden puzzle of one of the three temples - The hall of prayer of good harvests - a circular building with three layers of marble stone base. We went on to buying it despite my mother's, my sister Czarina's and my own protests. We didn't think anyone would ever find time to assemble every single piece. 

 True enough, I found the puzzle one year later still in its package. Opened but undone. My mother said that she once thought of constructing it but got distracted with other stuff. So now here I am, unemployed, with time in my hands and an excited father bugging me to get around to finishing his precious souvenir.

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Three layers later, we finally have our temple right here at home. Building it wasn't at all bad. It was actually so much fun. I can't wait for Papa to see it! :)

   

Have a look also at photos of the actual temple:

So many tourists. But we're right there at the center!

I heart Beijing

Birthday celebration

Rewind to April 2011, my father and I decide to celebrate both of our birthdays in Beijing, China. Without hesitation, we book ourselves a flight along with my mom and my elder sister Czarina. Fast forward to July 23 - my father's birthday and the eve of our scheduled flight, we run a list of the things to bring, the places to visit, and the important phrases to remember. My brother then starts telling stories about some people he knew who met misfortunes while on vacation in the city. Most were thieved or ripped off by the locals. We chicken out for about 30 seconds primarily because we do not understand Mandarin. But heck, there's no stopping us from setting foot in the glorious, glorious city! I don't think I was able to sleep at all that night. :)

The city

Studying the subway route. =D

Touchdown!

Because we did not pre-book any of our tours, we got to experience Chinese culture first hand. It is true that very, very few speak nor understand English, so we communicated with the locals either by a) pointing at the pinyin or Mandarin translation in the phrase book; b) paint me a picture; or c) smile nalang with a lot of nods to signify affirmation! To get to and fro the tourist destinations, we frequented the bus and/or the subway and you bet we absolutely looked like idiots staring at the subway maps. It took us a day and a half to finally get the hang of it. It is also so funny how we ended up in the police station one night because we could not find our way back to the hotel. The best part is, none of the officers spoke English so we were frantically pointing at the mandarin translations for "lost," "subway station" and "directions." We thought we'd never get through them but then the boss said something to one of the officers then all of a sudden we were being escorted to the next station! So nice of them!

I saw some kids eating this and I felt the need to taste it too

 

Scorpions, anyone?

Sidewalk vendor. Parang Pinas lang!

Everything is mega-sized 
I do not exaggerate. Everything really is mega-sized so we had to do a lot of walking! It's a good thing I was in my flats! The city is much bigger in real life than how it is described in the internet. Remember how I said we got to immerse ourselves with the culture? Boy we really did. Before reaching a destination, we had to stop for water and snacks and had a little chit chat with locals or fellow tourists. Note that we were walking so much that my sister shed off a lot of pounds in just a day. And me? Never mind. Hahaha.

At the garden of the Emperor's summer palace which goes on and on. We literally climbed a mountain!

The forbidden city. And this is not even the rest of it!

Still, the forbidden city

More walking at the Bird's nest Olympic stadium

The Great wall of course, was a different story. We were so tired from all the walking in the forbidden city tour that we booked the first Great wall tour we saw. The tour was inclusive of meals, transportation and a tour guide so it was worth it!

The cable ride on the way to the Great Wall.

The Mutianyu Great Wall of China.

The Great wall experience with my sister! :)

Of course Beijing will not be complete without experiencing the traditional tea ceremony, medicinal foot massage, a visit at the silk factory and having our fill of authentic Peking duck! Yummy!

I love Beijing and its entirety! I will definitely be back!! :)