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Churches in Beijing

admin — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 05:31:25 +0000

1-The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Beijing (宣武门天主堂), also known as Nantang (南堂, the South Cathedral), is an historic Roman Catholic Church located in Beijing. It was built by Italian missionary Matteo Ricci in the early 17th century, as the oldest Catholic church in Beijing, it was damaged many times by earthquakes and fires, the present Baroque style dates from 1904.

2-The Xishiku Cathedral (西什库天主堂), commonly referred to as the Beitang (北堂, the North Cathedral) is one of the most ornate and magnificent church in Beijing. Established in 1703, the Xishkiku Cathedral is also where the Beijing Cardinal Bishop Office is located at and it is affiliated with the Patriotic Catholic Church of China.

The cathedral’s present cast iron Gothic architectural style and elaborate grey marble facade was built in 1890. The church stands in a spacious grounds surrounded by pine and oak tree and two Chinese pavilions.

3-The Wangfujing Cathedral (王府井天主堂), also named St. Joseph’s Wangfujing Cathedral or to the locals, Dongtang (东堂, the East Cathedral) is a historic Catholic cathedral located in the downtown Wangfujing shopping street. It was firstly established in 1655 by two foreign priests,and was rebuilt in 1904. After the restoration in 1980, the church reopened. It is a tourist attraction spot and many people like to take their wedding picture here.

4-The Xizhimen Church (西直门天主堂), or Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church (圣母圣衣堂) is a Roman Catholic Church located on the southern side of the Xizhimen Nei Street in Beijing. It is commonly referred to as Xitang (西堂, the West Church) to the locals. The Xizhimen Church is the youngest and the smallest church of the four grand Catholic churches in Beijing. The Western Church was first established in 1723 by the Italian missionary Teodorico Pedrini; destroyed in 1811, it was rebuilt in 1867; after a second destruction in 1900, it was built again in 1912 as we can see it today. Delicate Collins pillars and Gothic peaked arches inside the church create a grand, elegant and solemn impression upon visitors.

6-Nangangzi Christian Church (南岗子天主堂)， locates in Yongsheng alley, Xingfu Street, Chongwen. It started as a nunnery and a local hospital in 1910, was enlarged and restored into a Gothe style church in 1923. In 1952, it was closed and reopen in 1986.

7-Protestant Asbury Church at Chongwenmen (亚斯立堂), is the biggest Christian church in Beijing,and also was the first church constructed by the American Methodist Church in Northern China. In 1998, US president Klinton visited here. It holds the service in both Chinese and Korean.

8-Zhushikou Protestant Church (珠市口堂)，locates at the intersection between Zhoushikou Xidajie and Qianmen Dajie, it was established in 1904, closed during the Cultural Revolution in 1966, and re-opened in 1980. Some modern technology said to be used in this church.

9-Gangwashi Church (缸瓦市堂)
This is a very small church.

10-Kuanjie Church (宽街堂)
Another some church

11-Haidian Church (海淀堂)
This is just rebuilt, it is very big and new, locates just behind the Zhongguancun Dinghao Computer City.

12-Beijing Anglican Church (英利甘教堂、中华圣公会堂), is the first Anglican Church in Beijing. It was build in 1907. In 1990, the building was purchased by a Hongkong based information enterprise.

13-The St. Michael’s Church (圣弥厄尔教堂), in Dongjiaomin Alley was first built in 1901. The twin-spired, Gothic-style church served firstly as the place of Christian worship for the French community of Beijing before 1949, The church was closed in 1958 and did not reopen again until 1989. Its entrance is in the south, and the whole building follows typical Gothic style.The church is known for its beautiful stained glass windows. Mass is held from 6.30am on weekdays and at 7am, 8am and 6pm on Sundays. English services are held on Fridays and Sundays.

Others more to be explored include:

The Dongguantou Church, is located at Dongguantou Village of Fengtai District in southeastern Beijing. The time when it was first built is not known. There used to be an ordinary one-storey house, which was torn down in 1991, and a new church was built at the same place. The style of the church reflects the architect’s inspiration, the fa?ade is proportional, and the two warped cornices resemble flying wings and show its individuation.

Longzhuang Church, is located in Tongzhou, suburb of Beijing. There used to be an old church. Local people said that it had been there for more than 100 years, but the exact time cannot be confirmed. In 1998, the Longzhuang Church was rebuilt in the west of the village. It is a red brick construction and faces south. The towering spire points to the blue sky, making the church spectacular.

Housangyu Village Church, is located in Mentougou, suburb of Beijing. It was the oldest Catholic church in Beijing. According to historical records, it was originally a small church built in 1334, with stone-carved poodles in front of it and carved with eight Chinese characters Zhen Zai Ji Li, Huai Lin De Yi (bringing good luck to the house and lofty moral to the world).

The Housangyu Village Church was expanded in 1896, and was rebuilt in 1988. With the grand view of mountains, the towering white spire looks striking and splendid. In line with the mountain shape, a winding road was constructed towards the Virgin Mary Hill at the mountainside, which presents a unique view. The church once made contribution to the War of Resistance Against Japanese Invasion.

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Sacred Way of Ming Tomb

admin — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 18:00:00 +0000

At the southern end of the Ming Tombs area is a large memorial archway called Pailou. Built in 1540, it is now a monumental construction, built of white marble with five arches. Six rectangular pillars support it with beautiful bas-relief carvings (lions, dragons, lotus flowers). It is 14 metres hith and 28.86 metres wide.

One kilometre north of the archway is the main gate of the mausoleum area-the main gate of the palace called the Great Red Gate. two tablets used to be placed on both sides of the gate which said: “Dignitaries, officials and other persons arriving here must dismount from their horses.”

The central entrance was reserved for the body of the dead emperor alone, the living emperor had to use the left entrance when he came to pay homage to their ancestors. One more kilometre north of the main gate of the palace is a stele pavilion, on the back of the stele marble was engraved resume of Zhu Di, the emperor of Chenzu of the Ming Dynasty and on the upper front was engraved characters. “Stele of Divine Merit and Sacred Virtue, Changling, Great Ming”. The stele is carried on a marble tortoise, which, according to Chinese Legend, is the Son of Dragon, which the emperor called himself.

Around the Pavilion are four Ornamental Pillars built with the same mythical beast on the tops, which face either inward or outward, which means hoping the emperor not to cling to the palace or not to forget to return to the Palace to handle state affairs.

Going inward from the stele Pavilion is the 3.5 Km long Sacred Way, which means the road leading to Heaven. The emperor, known as the Son of Heaven went through the sacred road to the sacrificial altar to converse Heaven during his reign, naturally, after his death, he would also go through the Sacred Way back to heaven.

Alongside the Sacred Way are 18 pairs of marble figures lined up in antithesis, these marble figures, sculptured from whole stones, were erected over 500 years ago, the traditional way of putting over marble figures as guard of honour in front of the mausoleum began in the Han Dynasty which signified the dignity of the emperor, symbolising the good fortune and warding off evil influence.

This Sacred Way starts with two hexagonal columns called Wang Zhu on either side, they are carved with a cloud design. Their tops are shaped like a rounded cylinder.

Then follow, one on each side, lions, xie zhi (a mythical beast of feline family, with a mane and a horn on its head), camels, elephants, Qilin (a kind of imaginary animal with a scaly body, a cow’s tail, deer’s hooves and, horns on its head), horses. All these six animals are two kneeling, two standing, 12 animals on each side and 24 animals in all. They were supposed to change guards at midnight.

A slight turn of the Sacred Way leads to the human statues. Even this slight turn is in conformity with the principle of Feng Shui (winds of heaven and the waters of earth). On each side stand two generals, two civil officials and two “retired” government officials, 6 on each side, and 12 in all. They are larger-than-life-size human statues.

The avenue of stone animals and statues ends at Ling Xing Gate, better known as the Dragon and Phoenix Gate.

But the Sacred Way goes on beyond the Dragon and Phoenix Gate towards the chief tomb-Changling, emperor Yongle’s tomb.

Download the Google Earth KMZ file to locate this place

Ticket: RMB 20 Yuan

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Panjiayuan Flea Market

admin — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 03:49:38 +0000

Panjiayuan Flea Market is located at the south east of the 3rd Ring Road. It is an open air market, opened 7 days a week, but the best time to go is on weekend. The market was famous for antique dealings about 10 years ago, today it is famous for the big collections of handicraft works from the neighbouring provinces, but not entirely in the sense of antiques, you can still get some real stuff, but not very easy.

Take it as a fun place for half day shopping, or maybe just a visit to a museum, but not as a serious real antique shopping place, especially when you were told that the stuff you are staring at is from Song or Tang Dynasty…and if you really want to buy it, they will have a story on it, the only thing you can rely on is your own sharp eyes.

The market sells almost anything you can imagine, from the big vase to menus of old cameras, or personal letters, even old private diary, it could be roughly categoried into: porcelain, jade or gem, furnitures, wooden carving, clock (watch), stamps, coins, painting(mostly Chinese paintings), second hand books, newspaper and magezines, old photos (sometime you can find old family album), collections from the Cultural Revolution (Mao’s red books, notebooks, posters, bags)… all of the above could be: seemingly very old or authentic stuff, replica, or just today’s handicraft work. The price may vary a lot from just 10 to several hundres or thousands yuan.

Photos from the market:

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Temple of the Reclining Buddha (Wofosi)

admin — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 02:38:50 +0000

The Temple of the Reclining Buddha is located in the Western Hills at the southern foot of Jubao (also called Shou’an) Mountain, about 20 kilometers from Beijing downtown. It is inside the Beijing Botanical Garden, so if you want to visit this temple, you have to pay the garden ticket first.

The temple was first built during the Zhenguan period (627-249) of the Tang Dynasty, when it was also known as the Temple of Peaceful Longevity (Shou’ansi 寿安寺). In later periods it fell into ruin and was rebuilt and renamed several times. One of the last major renovations was completed in 1724.

As early as the Tang Dynasty, the temple contained a sandalwood sculpture of the reclining Buddha. In 1330-1331 during the Yuan Dynasty, a large-scale bronze image of the Buddha attaining Nirvana was cast, and from that time on, the temple was popularly called the Temple of the Reclining Buddha. According to the history of the Yuan Dynasty, the casting of this Buddha required 250,000 kilograms of bronze and 7,000 laborers. At the main entrance of the temple stands a glazed tile ornamental archway, and inside there are a bell tower and a drum tower flank a semi-circular pool.

The famous bronze Buddha is more than five meters long. The Buddha lies in a sleeping position, with one arm extended and the other propping up his head, and is surrounded by 12 smaller Buddhas. According to legend, this scene represents the Buddha on his deathbed giving instructions to his 12 disciples, who were seated under a pair of sal (poluo) trees.

The rear of the temple is set against the mountain cliffs, on top of which, a sutra repository was built; and at its front are open fields. On the western side are rockeries, pavilions.

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Temple of Azure Clouds (Biyun Si)

admin — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 02:24:05 +0000

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.

The gate of Azure Clouds which is faced by the stone lions is called the Mountain Gate. Close to it is a very deep pool where visitors can view a river that never dries up. On both sides of this temple are two Buddhist guardians which were carved during the Ming Dynasty and each being five meters in height. Upon entering this temple, tourists first visit the Front Palace where the stout Maitreya is displayed and then they encounter the Sakyamuni’s Palace where there are statues of Sakyamuni and his disciples as well as the Arhats.

There are three places very famous inside the temple.

First, is the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, which is in the center of the temple. A red wooden plaque hanging above the front gate of the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, the words on the plaque which is engraved in gold was written by his wife, Song Qingling. Inside this hall lies an empty crystal coffin presented by the USSR government in 1925 in memory of Sun Yat-sen, because his body had already been sealed inside the Vajra Throne Tower, the coffin was left here till now. Later in 1929, Sun’s body was moved and buried in Nanjing, the capital of China Republic. Photos of Sun Yat-sen, his handwriting, his books and his statue are also on display inside this hall.

Second, is the Five Hundred Arhats Hall located on the west side of the Temple of Azure Clouds, includes nine rooms, four small wells and a pavilion. The inner side of the front gate has figures of four heavenly kings, and three powerful Buddhas, Burning Lamp Buddha, Sakyamuni and Maitreya, are placed in the middle of this hall.

Altogether there are 512 statues, of which include 500 wooden Arhats, 11 Bodhisattvas and one statue of Ji Gong. All the Arhats are vivid, life-size statues with different poses and expressions. It has been said that two of these Arhats were the statues of Emperor Kangxi and Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty (1644 – 1911).

The third place is the magnificent Vajrasana Throne Tower, it is the highest building in the Temple of Azure Clouds. This 35 meter-high tower with elegant decorations is well-known within the area of Beijing City for its high elevation. It is still open to public, as a perfect observational position to view all the scenery in the suburbs of Beijing City, it is a very worthy to climb up. you can take a panorama photo on the top just like I did.

By the way, in a little courtyard on the side way, where the Fourth Session of the First Central Committee of Kuomingtang was convened in 1925 and lasted for 10 days, and it was recorded as Western Hills Meeting in history, the group had a political goal of ousting the Communist Left.

It is suggested that tourists visit the Temple of Recumbent Buddha (Wofo Si) first, then Xiangshan (Fragrant Hill), and lastly the Temple of Azure Clouds. These three tourist spots are all on one tour itinerary and can be reached by public transportation, bus 318, 333, 360 or 904.

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First snow of 2009

admin — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 14:21:07 +0000

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.

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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20091023 Badachu Park

admin — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 16:24:07 +0000

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.

The eight ancient Buddhist temples and monasterie: 1, 长安寺 Changan Temple (Temple of Eternal Peace); 2, 灵光寺 Lingguang Temple (Temple of Divine Light); 3, 三山庵 Sanshan Nunnery (Three-hill Nunnery); 4, 大悲寺 Dabei Temple (Temple of Great Mercy); 5, 龙泉庵 Dragon Spring Nunnery (Dragon Spring Nunnery); 6, 香界寺 Xiangjie Temple (The Temple of the Fragrant World); 7, 宝珠洞 Pearl Cave (The Cave of Precious Pearl); 8, 证果寺 Zhengguo Temple. Except the 1st is not opened to public, others can be visited, but as the 8th one is in another direction, not many people would visit it.

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Temple of Heaven

admin — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 07:36:30 +0000

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.

Temple of Heaven is not a single temple actually. There are many buildings, basically there are three parts inside, and there is an local axis going along with the most important buildings.

Large space in the park is just occupied by trees, most of them cypress. This design was based on the ancient thought, that the worship done in the forest wasthe most sacred and also the cleanest. Today if you visit here early in morning, like 6 am, you can see many people are here, not for praying…but for morning exercise.

Temple of Heaven was placed on the list of the World Cultural Heritage by UNESCO in 1998, as the “largest building complex for worshipping heaven in the world”.

South Part: the Circular Mound Altar and the Imperial Vault of Heaven.

The Emperor would visit the Circular Mound Altar every year on the day of winter solstice, this ceremony was called the “Worshipping to Heaven”. To the north, in the little round courtyard, there are three buildings, the middle one is the Vault of Heaven, it was the place for storing the tablets of God of Heaven and the ancestors of the royal family. There are two flank buildings, in the east is for the tablets of the Gods of Brightness and Stars, in the west is for the tablets of Gods of Wind, Thunder, Cloud and Rain.

Though it was not likely for the Emperor to go through all the buildings in one time, there is a bridge to connect the south part to the north part. The Red Stariway Bridge is about 3 meters above the ground.

North Part: the Altar for Praying for Grain and the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest.

If we keep the south part in mind, it is easy to recoginzed the buildings in the north part, you can say that the same story repeated again, but note this time, the temple and the altar were built together, that is the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest was built on the Altar for Praying Grain. In the Ming and Qing Dynasty, the Emperor would visit here on the 8th day after the Chinese New Year. In the sense of architecture, the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest is the crown of the whole complex, very likely you have seen it in some other places, in photos or maybe even in brand logos.

West Part: the Palace of Abstinence
Before any of the ceremony, the Emperor would have to go fast for 3 days, first 2 days in the Hall of Abstinence inside Forbidden City, and the last day here, therefore the palace is walled and moated like the Forbidden City, during the occupation of the Eight Allied Force in 1901, the British headquaters was here.

Interesting acoustics phenomenon can be found at the round shaped buildings. First spot locates at the Circular Mound Altar, there is a piece of stone in the center, on that piece of stone, your voice can be echoed loudly, I tried and it works most of the cases, even when there were many visitors around. The second spot (the Echo Wall) and third sport (the Triple Sound Stones) are both inside the courtyard of the Imperial Vault of Heaven, and both of them don’t work in the daytime.

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