Temple of Heaven

Our bus left Daejeon at 4:18 a.m. and we got to the airport at 6:45. We arrived in Beijing at 10:40 a.m. (9:40 Korean time). There were 38 people on the tour, so it took awhile for everyone to get through immigration and everything. (Sidenote: Flying is sooo much easier when you're not flying to/from the U.S.! We didn't even have to take off our shoes to go through security on the way back to Korea. Must be nice not to be a terrorist target.)

We finally got out of the airport around noon, and our first stop was the Temple of Heaven.

The Temple of Heaven, specifically the Hall of Annual Prayer.

We've seen a million temples (OK, not that many, but in Korea they're all the same), but we weren't prepared for this one. It was awe inspiring, especially raised on its pavillion against the clear blue of the sky. Plus it was round, a shape we'd never seen before with this type of architecture, and much more elaborate than the places we've seen in Korea.

Inside the Hall of Annual Prayer.

The temple is where the emperor used to go to pray for good harvests (basically, worshipping the heavens). The emperor was seen as the son of heaven and made sacrifices in various ceremonies to show respect for the source of his authority.

Looking up.

All in all, it was an excellent start to our trip.

Next up: Chinese acrobatics and Peking duck.