Beijing China 4

Temple of Heaven
Think of Central Park times 3. Here you will see people taking dance lessons, exercising, playing cards and practicing tai-chi. The Temple of Heaven translates to “Alter of Heaven” and includes many different buildings with historical and cultural significance.

Lama (Buddhist) Temple
Over 50% of Chinese are Buddhist, which technically is not a religion, it’s more commonly referred to as a cultural practice or thought system. This is one of the largest and most important Buddhist Temples in the world. Here you can see an 85 foot tall Buddha carved out of one single piece of wood.

Confucius Temple
“Real knowledge is to know the ext of one’s ignorance.” ~Confucius. This is the second largest Confucian Temple in China and the only site where the entrance fee was a bit sketchy. My guide told me that tourists will get charged 70 Yuans but the real cost is actually only 30 Yuans. He asked me to stay behind while he purchased the ticket. On the actual ticket it did say 70, but he came back with 70 Yuan change for me. He said this is the only place where they have this issue. Inside the compound there is a museum that showcases how students of Confucianism learned the wisdom of their practice.
By Jason Castellani (to be continued)