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!