Temple of Azure Clouds is inside the Fragrant Hill Park, it is close to the north gate, after paying the park ticket, another temple ticket (10 yuan) will be needed.
This temple was initially built during the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) and was reconstructed during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The interior buildings almost retain the style of the Ming.
Today, 1st Nov., here comes the first snow of 2009, and the snow is a heavy one, it just come without much expectation. I didn’t see such a heavy snow for some time I think, the sky is so generous this year.
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.
Badachu Park is at the foot of the west hill of Beijing. Normally people come here for visiting the 8 temples scatter around the hill. In autumn days, it is also good for seeing the leaves of the trees that are coming to be coloured.
Temple of Heaven, or “Tiantan”, “the Altar of Heaven” in Chinese, was built in 1420, same time as the Forbidden City. It was opened to public in 1918, after 1945, during the civil war of China, the wall at the south part of the park was destroyed to setup a small airport.
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.
