Beijing Day 4 -Tibetan Temple and Summer Palace
The next morning we took the subway to Yongegong Lama Temple. This is Tibetan Buddhist temple, which is a type of Buddhism very popular in China, but not the main stream type practiced by most Chinese. This temple is one of the most important outside of Tibet itself, has some uniquely Tibetan features about it that set it apart from the typical Buddhist temple in China. Firstly the design and decoration is slightly different, using more colours and fabric drapes and incorporates the Tibetan language as well as Chinese, and has many statues of minor Buddhist deities which I had not seen before. There are prayer wheels; large engraved drums that spin and prayer flags, which are made of many colours. The buildings themselves have a sort of double layering to them not found in other Chinese buildings however, some of the decoration is similar to that of the imperial buildings, however it using Buddhist symbols such as the lotus rather than the dragon or phoenix.
The complex is bit of a maze, with many building s and side rooms filled with various minor shrines, with a fire for burning incense outside each. On the street approaching the temple there are a lot of shops and street vendors selling Buddhist paraphernalia such statues or offerings for making a home shrine and large packets of incense sticks; on our approach we saw people buying armful of them and I wondered why, but once inside it became obvious that if every building required the burning of 3 sticks before entering you would get through a huge number of them. The air smells heavily of the exotic smoke and it teems with people wielding and waving the smouldering sticks, so you have to be careful not to get singed.
Across the road is another temple dedicated to Confucius, which has a statue of the sage and large music hall filled with instruments but otherwise was slightly underwhelming.
From here we travelled to the north western outskirts of the city to the Summer Palace; this was the imperial retreat for the warmer months and consists of a series of buildings, stroll gardens and causeways that run around the large Kunming Lake. From the northern shore of the lake an ever ascending group of gateways, halls and temples climb the side of Longevity Hill via a grand double branched staircase, climaxing in a large rounded pagoda which is contain a statue of Guan Yin, the Buddhist Goddess of Mercy. Each building and much of the lake shore are linked by covered walk- and stairways known as ‘the long corridor’. The world longest continual corridor is painted with many natural scenes and animals, and would be an impressive sight on its own. Once at the top of the hill, there is a impressive view back over the lake toward the rest of Beijing and carrying on you can then descend through rockeries and gardens to a ‘Suzhou Street’ which is a series of cafes, shops and photo stalls that run around a canal crossed by a large bridge, where I had a lunch of homemade flat noodle and beef soup.
On Kunming Lake is also a large marble boat - this was built by the extravagant Dowager Empress Cixi with money meant for the navy - in the Chinese equivalent of the ‘let them eat cake’ moment which was one of the prompts for the Boxer Rebellion.
The Summer Palace is a very pleasant resort, and in comparison to the Imperial Palace it is much easier to imagine people actually living and relaxing there, and seems to absorb a huge number of people into the many hideaways between the buildings and into its garden pathways.
On a return to Beijing we went to Ghost Street; and section of a main street famous for its red lantern-lit restaurants. Much like Manchester’s Rusholme the street is a riot of colour and neon, which a staggering array of tasty looking choices; we plumped for a Sichuan Hotpot chain restaurant called Little Sheep where we had a Ying-Yang (hot and mild) hotpot with lamb, king prawn and a mushroom selection that was awesome.
On the walk home I found a Takoyaki stall, and even though I was stuff there was no way I could resist a taste of a Japanese favourite, but by then it was very important to lie down.
Pictures:
Yongegong Lama Temple
Summer Palace
The complex is bit of a maze, with many building s and side rooms filled with various minor shrines, with a fire for burning incense outside each. On the street approaching the temple there are a lot of shops and street vendors selling Buddhist paraphernalia such statues or offerings for making a home shrine and large packets of incense sticks; on our approach we saw people buying armful of them and I wondered why, but once inside it became obvious that if every building required the burning of 3 sticks before entering you would get through a huge number of them. The air smells heavily of the exotic smoke and it teems with people wielding and waving the smouldering sticks, so you have to be careful not to get singed.
Across the road is another temple dedicated to Confucius, which has a statue of the sage and large music hall filled with instruments but otherwise was slightly underwhelming.
From here we travelled to the north western outskirts of the city to the Summer Palace; this was the imperial retreat for the warmer months and consists of a series of buildings, stroll gardens and causeways that run around the large Kunming Lake. From the northern shore of the lake an ever ascending group of gateways, halls and temples climb the side of Longevity Hill via a grand double branched staircase, climaxing in a large rounded pagoda which is contain a statue of Guan Yin, the Buddhist Goddess of Mercy. Each building and much of the lake shore are linked by covered walk- and stairways known as ‘the long corridor’. The world longest continual corridor is painted with many natural scenes and animals, and would be an impressive sight on its own. Once at the top of the hill, there is a impressive view back over the lake toward the rest of Beijing and carrying on you can then descend through rockeries and gardens to a ‘Suzhou Street’ which is a series of cafes, shops and photo stalls that run around a canal crossed by a large bridge, where I had a lunch of homemade flat noodle and beef soup.
On Kunming Lake is also a large marble boat - this was built by the extravagant Dowager Empress Cixi with money meant for the navy - in the Chinese equivalent of the ‘let them eat cake’ moment which was one of the prompts for the Boxer Rebellion.
The Summer Palace is a very pleasant resort, and in comparison to the Imperial Palace it is much easier to imagine people actually living and relaxing there, and seems to absorb a huge number of people into the many hideaways between the buildings and into its garden pathways.
On a return to Beijing we went to Ghost Street; and section of a main street famous for its red lantern-lit restaurants. Much like Manchester’s Rusholme the street is a riot of colour and neon, which a staggering array of tasty looking choices; we plumped for a Sichuan Hotpot chain restaurant called Little Sheep where we had a Ying-Yang (hot and mild) hotpot with lamb, king prawn and a mushroom selection that was awesome.
On the walk home I found a Takoyaki stall, and even though I was stuff there was no way I could resist a taste of a Japanese favourite, but by then it was very important to lie down.
Pictures:
Yongegong Lama Temple
Summer Palace