Today was supposed to be spent visiting the huotongs in the morning. However the huotongs were everywhere and I did visit some in the past two days and so today was a free and easy day. After surfing the web a bit, I decided to visit the famous Temple of Heaven, 天宫. Going there was rather easy as the east entrance is right beside the subway exit. The park is really huge and 35rmb gives you a ticket that grants access to all the museums and places of interest.
Heading in, I entered the hall of food preparation, which was used in the past to prepare food for offerings. There were a lot of old relics on display but photography in the halls were forbidden. Ahead was a stretch of really aptly named "long corridor" which had a lot of locals socializing around. You can see them play cards, Chinese chess, do knitting, origami and other interesting hobbies. It feels a little like the Chinatown of Singapore, but with a much more relaxed feel. No wonder these local seniors buy an annual pass and visit the park daily. You can also see many seniors exercising in various parts of the park.
Further on, after visiting another few halls filled with relics and archeological findings, it was time to check out the famous temple of heaven. This temple was used for the supplication of offerings to heaven by the king in the past, according to traditional Chinese customs. The temple was huge, and the crowd was huge too. But at least, it felt so much more peaceful than the Palace Museum. I would gladly come back to this place again and again, but not the Palace Museum. After spending a ton of time doing long exposure photography to erase the crowd, I headed back to the forested park to enjoy the serenity.
Due to time constraints, I could only spend 2.5 hours here. It is definitely a place worth spending the whole day in. Autumn is ending and some of the leaves have turned yellow, giving the entire place a very surreal atmosphere.
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