After the torrential downpour last week, Beijing is not so much humid, and somehow becomes comfortable at night. After a dinner with friends, I made this trip into the hutongs.
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The 2nd snow arrived as expected on 10th of Nov, and it was another heavy one! I took some photos in the hutongs around Dongsi Area.
In balance to the Temple of Heaven, Temple of Earth was built in 1530 in the Ming Dynasty, it was subsequently renovated in compliance with an imperial decree of Emperor Qianlong in 1749 in the period of Qing Dynasty, after the Cultural Revolution, in 1981 it was restored.
Almost of all Chinese know a famous phrase by Francis Bacon “Knowledge is power”. Though today the conception of knowledge changes in some ways, while the source of getting knowledge changes a lot, internet plays a very important role in that aspect. But the books printed in paper is still very convenient, book prices are much internationlized in China recently, so they are no longer cheap in China, most people including me like to buy books online, they give you 20% or 30% off.
Tian An Men (Gate of Heavenly Peace) was the main entrance to the Royal City and the Forbidden City during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Built in 1417, it was first named the Cheng Tian Men, meaning that emperors obeyed the order of Heaven in ruling the country. Destroyed by fire twice, it was rebuilt in 1651 during the Qing Dynasty and renamed Tian An Men. It is also honored as the “Gate of the Nation.”
It took Emperor Zhudi only 14 years (1406-1420) to build his royal palace in Beijing. The royal palace, popularly known as the Forbidden City, was the permanent residence of 24 emperors of the Ming and Qing Dynasties (1368-1911). It covers over 720,000 square meters of floor space, with more than 8,700 rooms, surrounded by city wall as high as ten meters and a city moat as wide as 52 meters.
Built in 1420 (the 18th year of Yongle in the Ming Dynasty), Imperial Ancestral Temple (Taimiao) is situated on the east side of Tian’anmen. It used to be the imperial ancestral temple for offering sacrifices to Heaven and the Earth in the Ming and Qing dynasties.
