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July 3rd 2011, some night snapshots in the Hutong area near Qianmen

admin — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 05:20:00 +0000

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.

This was shot at New Qianmen Street.

By the cornet of a dean end in a nameless alley.

A bar in the open air, you will enjoy very nice view in the street.

A hutong that is almost gone, only few people stay here.

Feb. 12 of 2010

admin — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 06:53:17 +0000

Two days before Chinese New Year.

Decoration on top a courtyard entrance.

Candy in the street.

Some hot and spicy food in a small alley.

One of the party members on top of roof.

2nd snow of 2009

admin — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 11:50:09 +0000

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.

Temple of Earth

admin — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 12:11:09 +0000

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.

Different from the Temple of Heaven, the altar of Earth is shape of square, followed the Chinese idea of “Heaven is round, earth is square”. The Emperor would visit here on the day of summer solstice, during the ritual, sacrifices were offered on the altar to appease the gods of earth, which we believe they will help mankind in return.

This altar in the center is called 方泽坛 or Fangzetan, which can be literally translated as “Square Shaped Moated Altar “, there was a mini moat surrounding the altar, but no more today…we are in shortage of water…

During the ceremony, 15 statues of mountain gods would be presented in the north side of the 2nd terrace (not the top one), 8 statues of ocean gods and river gods would be presented in east and west side respectively on the same terrace.

Today Temple of Earth is most frequented not by tourists but local residents, as large space provides an ideal place for playing Taichi and other excercises.

It is still busy around the year, there 3 times of book fairs, and during the Chinese New Year, a traditional temple fairs will be held here as well.

How to get here: Lama Temple Stop of Subway Line 2, go to the north east exit, there is just about 5 minutes walking.

Ticket: 5 Yuan, go to the altar may be charged at another 5 yuan.

Tips: Here is very close to the Lama Temple, the Confucius Temple and Guozijian (the old Imperial College), you can make it a package for a full day visit, and after that for conclusion of this busy day, it is good to go into the small alleys around Nanluoguxiang looking for a cup of beer.

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Book Fair at Ditan

admin — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 07:10:49 +0000

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.

The book fair at Ditan (Temple of Earth) takes place 3 times a year, in May, Oct. and Dec., as the book prices at the fair are very cheap, 50% is not a surprise, and it could be even cheaper like 80% off or 90% off, sometime if you are lucky, you can buy 3 books at only 10 yuan, ha ha, that is cheap, normally the boothes like this are very crowded and the guys will yell loudly, saying something like last 10 minutes…you have to be careful to pick up your books and it has to be done in haste, it is very funny, some people choose their books not on the subjects but on front page design or thickness, sometimes it works sometimes doesn’t, I saw someone got very thick books from the stack but found out their books were just logarithm table!

Foreign books are avaible at some boothes, mainly in decoration, architect, photos, travels, I got a Lonely Planet of China (2008 version) at only 5 yuan, original price was 33 Euros, mais attention, Ca c’est en Francais.

Books at 70% to 50% off.

The guy standing on something is the boss of the booth.

Snack foods are avaible close by.

Gingko biloba trees in autumn at Ditan

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Tian An Men Square

admin — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 06:10:39 +0000

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.”

During the Ming and Qing Dynasties grand ceremonies were held at Tian An Men. Composed of the rostrum and gate tower, the building is 34.7 meters high and has five watchtowers. Supported by nine huge columns, the building has a splendid colorful roof of glazed tiles. With painted pillars and carved beams, the hall of Tian An Men Rostrum looks majestic. Sixty huge columns, representing the Earthly Branches designate years, months, days and hours and the Heavenly stems to designate marks of order, stand in perfect harmony to demonstrate the permanent stability of the nation. Tian An Men, a masterpiece of China’s ancient architectural art, represents the superb skill and artistic talent of the Chinese people.

As one of the largest city squares in the world, Tian An Men Square occupies an area of 440, 000 square meters–spacious enough to accommodate half or even 1 million people. Many annual and special celebrations and assemblies are held here.

In the ancient time, the square was in T-shaped and was much narrow, it was surrounded by red wall, along the axis there was “Thousand Step Corridor”, with two gates (Dragon Gate in the east, Tiger Gate in the west side) opened to the now day Chang’an Avenue, just outside the corridor there were government offices (civil east, military west)

On October 1st, 1949, Chairman Mao Ze Dong declared the founding of the People’s Republic of China on the Tian An Men Rostrum. On the oncoming 60 years anniversary of P.R.China, there will have a national parade centered in the square. VIP guests could be seated at the reviewing stands close to the Tian’anmen Gate, and there will about 1 million people to take part in the celebration.

Important Buildings:

Monument to the People’s Heroes(人民英雄纪念碑), erected in 1958. On the north side of the monument, carved an inscription “Eternal glory to the people’s heroes” in Mao’s hand writing. The base of the monument is not opened to public.

Chairman Mao’s Memorial Hall, constructed in 1977, inside the hall people can visit the Mao’s crystal coffin, it is free of charge, but normally have to wait in queue for hours.

Zhengyangmen Gate and its Arrow Tower (functions as its guarding building), these two buildings was joined together by a wall, and altogether they constitute the front gate of the inner city of Peking, as we know, the wall were gone in 1960s, so these two buildings are now just standing apart.

The Great Hall of the People, it was built in Oct. 1958 and was completed 1 year after. There are more than 300 reception rooms and conference halls of various sizes.

The National Museum locates at the east side of the square, it houses a permanent exhibition displaying Chinese history from 1.7 million ago, the building is now in renovation, and will be finished in 2010

At the south east corner, stands an European style building, and that was the first Beijing Railway Station, it was in the Legation Quarter, so to the east of the square, there was a large piece of field occupied by foreign embassies before 1949.

How to get here

Taxi cannot stop close by, and there are 2 lines of Subway stop at the square, but there is a long distance to go to the center. Security scan is a must before going into the square.

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Forbidden City

admin — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 06:40:08 +0000

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.

By this way, the city of Beijing shapes as Fobidden City in the core, then Royal City, then Inner City, and with the Outer City located at the very south. Even today this structure still effects modern Beijing city planning mainly in 2 ways, firstly Beijing is still growing in this pan-frying pattern, 2nd Ring, 3rd Ring, 4th Ring, 5th Ring and the 6th Ring, and secondly the central axis of the Forbidden City is still the central line of Beijing, the 2008 Olympic Games Village was built exactly on the extension of this line.

The Forbidden City can be divided into the Outer Court and Inner Court. The Outer Court where emperors held important ceremonies consists of the three great halls of Tai He Dian (太和殿), Zhong He Dian (中和殿) and Bao He Dian (保和殿), which form the main body, and Wenhua Hall (文华殿) and Wuying Hall (武英殿), which are arrayed like wings on the sides.

The Inner Court, where emperors handled routine state affairs and lived with their wives and concubines, consists of Qian Qing Gong (乾清宫), Jiao Tai Dian (交泰殿), Kun Ning Gong (坤宁宫), Yangxin Hall (养心殿), literally as “the Hall of Mental Cultivation” as well as six east and west palaces and the imperial garden–Yu Hua Yuan (御花园).

The Imperial Palace is the largest and most complete ancient imperial complex so well preserved in China. It embodies collectively ancient Chinese traditions and architectural art. In 1961, it was proclaimed an important cultural site under state protection, and was listed as a World Cultural Heritage by UNESCO in 1987.

Of the total of 24 emperors lived here, 14 were from the Ming Dynasty(1368-1644) and 10 from of the Qing Dynasty(1644-1911). For a short time at the end of the Ming Dynasty, the Imperial Palace was occupied by peasant rebels led by Li Zichen (李自成). It ended its historical mission as the imperial palace after the revolution of 1911 when the Qing Dynasty–the last dynasty in China–was overthrown. The front part or the Outer Court of the Imperial Palace was opened to the public as the Museum of Antiquities in 1914, and the Palace Museum was established in 1925.

Visit

Today, most of the halls and palaces have been opened to the public in their original state with their former ornamentation and daily-use utensils on display; others exhibit special art treasures, such as jewelry, ancient paintings, bronzes, ceramics, handicrafts, clocks and watches, presenting the age-old and splendid historical civilization of China.

It roughly takes about 1.5 hours to go through along with the axis, but for a more detailed tour it may take 3-4 hours, for example you can try the east route, where locates the Emperor Qianlong’s retirement garden, or you may try a little west as well.

A view of Forbidden City from north to south.

Website: http://www.dpm.org.cn/
Ticket: RMB 60 Yuan in Summer, RMB 40 Yuan in Winter

Below is a map showing part that is opened inside the Forbidden City.

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Temple of Confucius (孔庙,Kongmiao)and the Imperial College (国子监,Guozijian)

admin — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 07:12:13 +0000

Mouth of a turtle, who is carrying a stele. His name is BiXi (赑屃), the 6th son of the dragon.

A Panaroma view of the Confucius Temple and the Imperial College.

As the two places are just by neighbour, they just share the same entrance at the of Confucius Temple, it costs 20 yuan.

Confucius Temple

The Beijing Confucius Temple was built in 1302 in the Yuan Dynasty, just outside of the temple, and the two sides of the entrance, there are two steles to order every visitors to dismount from horse or off the sedan chair.

Confucius (Chinese: 孔子; Kǒng zǐ; K’ung-tzu). “Master Kong,” (551 BC – 479 BC) was a thinker and social philosopher, whose teachings and philosophy have deeply influenced Chinese culture.

His philosophy emphasized personal and governmental morality, correctness of social relationships, justice and sincerity. These values gained prominence in China over other doctrines, such as Legalism (法家) or Taoism (道家) during the Han Dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD). Confucius’ thoughts have been developed into a system of philosophy known as Confucianism (儒家). It was introduced to Europe by the Jesuit Matteo Ricci, who was the first to Latinise the name as “Confucius.”

His teachings may be found in the Analects of Confucius (論語), a collection of “brief aphoristic fragments”, which was compiled many years after his death. Modern historians do not believe that any specific documents can be said to have been written by Confucius, but he was thought to be many of the First, the first editor or author of sorting and passing on the literature of the ancient China, the first to extend cultural education to the common people.

Confucius believed in that human society was a systematic collective body, which could be held together only by some norms (Rites and Decorum) of conduct so that only by this way, that peace and happiness could be brought to the people. “Once you have restrained your personal desires and made your words and deeds conform to decorum, you will be universally acknowledged as bearing the virtue of humanity” (克己复礼，天下归仁者), here includes a couple points of moral cultivation, such as: Loyalty or Faithfulness(忠), Filial Piety(孝), Respect(悌), Wisdom(智), Courage(勇), Honesty(诚) and Forbearance(恕). No wonder one of his disciples said “Our master’s doctrine is simply this: faithfulness and forbearance.”

Though he was not turn out to be successful in his own political life, his idea shaped shaped Chinese and China’s politics till now.

Duke of Yansheng (衍聖公 Yan Shenggong) was created as a marquisate for the direct descendent of Confucius from the Western Han dynasty. The last Duke Yansheng, K’ung Te-ch’eng (孔德成), 77th generation of Confucius died in 2008 in Taiwan. More of Confucius family tree at Wiki in Chinese.

The complex aligned along a central axis. From south to north, noteworthy structures includes the Xianshi Gate (先师门), Dacheng Gate (大成门), Dacheng Hall (大成殿) and Chongshengci (崇圣祠, not opened to public yet).

Inside the temple there are 198 stone tablets positioned on either side of the front courtyard, and they contains more than 51,624 names of Jinshi (the advanced scholars) of the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, and 14 stone stele pavilions of the Ming and Qing dynasties that hold the precious historical information of ancient China.The temple also contains stone tablets recording the names of many generations of scholars who passed the Imperial Examination, a reproduction of a Western Zhou period stone drum made during the reign of Qianlong (1735-96), and 189 stone steles containing the Thirteen Confucian Classics, presented by the city of Jintan in Jiangsu Province.

The Temple has many old trees, including one Cypress tree known as the “Touch Evil Cypress” (除奸柏). Its name derives from a story that when a famously corrupt official passed by, the tree knocked off his hat.

Guozijian or Imperial College

The Guozijian (國子監), the School of the Sons of State sometimes called the Imperial Central School, Imperial Academy or Imperial College was the national central institute of learning in the capital of each dynasty, it was the highest institute of learning in China’s traditional educational system.

Formerly it was called the Taixue for noble students. The central schools of taixue were established as far back as 3 CE, when a standard nationwide school system was established and funded during the reign of Emperor Ping of Han.When disbanded during the 1898 reform of the Qing Dynasty, the Guozijian was replaced by the Imperial Capital Academy.

Guozijian were located in the national capital of each dynasty — Chang’an, Luoyang, Kaifeng, and Nanjing. In Ming there were two capitals; thus there were two Guozijian, one in Nanjing and one in Beijing. The Guozijian, located in the Guozijian Street (or Chengxian street) in the Dongcheng District, Beijing, the imperial college during the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties (although most of its buildings were built during the Ming Dynasty) was the last Guozijian in China and is an important national cultural asset.

“辟雍”：“辟，璧也，像璧圆以法天也。雍者，雍之以水，像教化流行也。”《白虎通》

Emperor Tongzhi’s Imperial edict on the final result of the Imperial Examination in the year of 1868, 270 past it in the first class.

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Imperial Ancestral Temple

admin — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 12:44:09 +0000

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.

The front hall, called Sacrificial Hall, was for holding grand sacrificial ceremonies. It stands on a tri-tiered sumeru base made of white marble. Inside the hall, the sixty-eight columns and the wooden components are all made of expensive golden-silk nanmu wood; the floor is paved with golden bricks, and the ceiling is adorned with colored gilded paintings.

The former imperial forbidden compound was turned into Beijing Working People’s Cultural Palace after 1949, with its name inscribed by Chairman Mao. It was officially opened to the public on May 1, 1950.

The cultural palace is also a center to host big events, for instance, Yanni’s concert and the opera Turadot—the latter was voted as the top ten entertainment events in China in the 20th century.

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28th of Jan. 2009

admin — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 11:03:18 +0000

A visit to 798 art factory.

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Nanluoguxiang Hutong

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TouchBeijing.com » Dongcheng

July 3rd 2011, some night snapshots in the Hutong area near Qianmen

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