Ladee's Travels

Camera in hand, I made my way off of the bus and starting taking pictures. In the distance is the Big Wild Goose Pagoda (Dayan Pagoda)...our destination.

This is a UNESCO world heritage site and is listed as "Temple of Heaven: an Imperial Sacrificial Altar in Beijing". It is located in Tiantan Park.  Per UNESCO, it was founded in the first half of the 15th Century and is a dignified complex of fine cult buildings set in gardens and surrounded by historic pine woods. In its overall layout and that of its individual buildings, it symbolizes the relationship between earth and heaven - the human world and God's world - which stands at the center of Chinese cosmogony, and also the special role played by the emperors within that relationship. The Temple of Heaven is a masterpiece of ancient Chinese culture and is the most representative work of numerous sacrificial buildings in China.  The write-up on UNESCO's site gives more details:  http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/881 . The remaining text are my personal observations. This is the entranceway.  A lot of people were in the long covered boardwalk to the right of the pho...

This part of the tour was in and around the Temple of Heaven.  We entered through the East Gate in to a large park.  My first distraction was a young boy with a ribbon. He was quite accomplished and it takes all of these photographs to show his skill.  We entered the area with the Seven Star-Stones. One reference says that these were placed here for Taoist balance by Jiajing.  There are eight stones now, one placed by Qing forces.  Ok, so what is "Taoist balance"?  I googled the term and saw things like Yin and Yang.  Another reference said that they represent the seven peaks of Taishan Mountain, a place of Heaven worship in classical China.  I didn't want to just put pictures of big rocks with no explanation.  If you want a better answer, please research and put your results in the comments.  I am giving you enough photos so that you can get the general idea of this area. ...