Temple of Heaven Revisited

As some of you may recall, several weeks ago I took a trip to one of Beijing's (and possibly China's) most famous landmarks, the Temple of Heaven. While I undeniably had a very enjoyable time, the fact that the sky was glazed over with some of the city's infamous smog that day kind of took away from the moment, at least in my opinion. In other words, I felt that I was denied an opportunity to view the temple (specifically, the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests) in it's full splendor. 

So, several days ago when it was announced that TBC would be organizing a trip to the temple complex, it seemed like the perfect opportunity for me to try my luck again. Of course, being the master of planning that I am, I tried to sign up for the trip last Friday morning, where I learned that the deadline to sign up for the trip was 5:00, the day before. Fortunately, as I said, I had already been there to the temple on my own before, so getting back there by myself was hardly a problem.

And so, Saturday morning I awoke, prepared a day pack, and headed straight for the subway station, where I rode the subway a few stops over to the old Bell and Drum Towers, from where I hiked all the way to the Temple of Heaven. I could've just taken the subway all the way down to a stop literally right next to the temple complex, but I decided it would be nicer to walk the distance. That, and the line I'd have to take is the one subway line that goes directly north-south. In other words, by far it has the greatest chances of being absurdly crowded at any given time of the day, even to the point where there's literally no more space at all in the subway cars. It's no joke, transit-goers will literally pack themselves like sardines in there, and will continue to force their way into a crowded car at any subway stop until there's no more space whatsoever to go around.

Anyhow....I made the familiar trek just fine, without any hassle (save those instances while walking by Tienanmen Square, where souvenir vendors are more than prepared to pounce upon the first foreign face they spot in the crowds), and before too long, I made it to my destination. There, I discovered quite the invaluable tidbit of knowledge - on a clear day in Beijing, the setting sun strikes the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests at just the right angle, which results in a most spectacular sight.   

 

Unfortunately, I learned something else that day too. As it turns out, if I stand in one place for too long in a real touristy spot in this city, local folks will either A) Try to sell me something, or B) Try and get a picture with the weird-looking, bearded foreigner.

I guess the latter option's no so bad. At least it's better than the alternative, when one is pointed out as a foreigner not out of interest, but out of wariness for the strange outsider. I had to find out this the hard way when a mother and her daughter were about to ascend a stairway I was standing upon and enjoying the view from. Suddenly, the little girl started tugging at her mother's arm, and after a quick exchange between the two, they back off and ascended a different stairway. To be fair, I don't know what they said to each other exactly....but the fact that the little girl pointed directly at me several times gave me a pretty good idea what was going on (to the dismay of my self-esteem).  

Yesiree...the fact that over 90% of this country's population belongs to the same ethnic group can definitely be a bit troublesome at certain times.