Temple of Heaven, Chang Chun Jie

Saturday, March 24, 2007

Silk St, Party, Temple of Heaven & Changchun

Last night Friday night I was invited to a party in the city (with my friend Y).

Beforehand I thought I would check out a few train stops that I havent seen. Fuxingmen & Yonganli.
Yonganli is very rich. Full of well dressed Chinese. Also full of laowai's with lotsa shopping bags.
Very beautiful appartments. Sandstone, wrought iron blah blah. Baskin & Robins, Pizza Hut etc etc.
Also a multistory shopping plaza selling silk, pearls and other clothing. Lotsa foreigners.
Yong anli and Guomo are otherwise famously known as silk street.
as you all know China has a long history with silk. In ancient times they made the best silk in the world.
It was because their silk worms were fed with a special type of mulberry.
In ancient times silk was as precious as gold. So yeah I did expect guomo to be a rich area.

Fuxingmen. not much. big buildings.

So I met Y at 7.40pm at the train station and we went to the party of someone called "B".
We taxied it down for 10mins.
The apartment was in an opulent European style building. I dont just mean western. I mean - think Europe. Or think of those old buildings at Martin Place, Sydney. Like that. Greek columns, sandstone, carving in the standstone. blah blah. It is called Palace Royale. I know it has it sense of tackiness & very noveau riche. But it was a really nice looking building if you ask me. The only thing wrecking it were a statue out the front. There was an ancient Greek guy riding a chariot. He had five horses out in front. Their heads go out in different directions. It is a massive gold statue. The gold looked tacky though. I think it was trying to emulate Paris.




talk about a land of contrasts. So the guy was from America and has lived in China for 3 years. Before that Amsterdam and Ireland. There were 2 Beijingren there too. We watched a dvd Sling Blade. Which had Billy Bob Thornton. Drank lemon tea and had Chinese wine. yum. Finished up about midnight. I said to Y that I would go and stay in a hotel. She said I could crash on your fold out couch. I was freezing cold all night. It was not as warm as the school but great not to travel home. and really nice of her to let me.

So today I woke up and went to the Temple of Heaven. I wasnt so impressed as I was with other places in Beijing. The Temple of Heaven is south of the forbidden city. The emporer would be carried down Qianmen St and enter the west gate. I think it is where he offered sacrifices to the gods so China would experience a good harvest. It is a very big park with lots of trees. It is refreshing to see groups of Chinese people doing Tai Chi, flying kites, writing characters in the dust with sticks, playing instruments etc. I love how the Beijingers use the public space together. I do love the blue roofs on the temples. There is a round wall. If you and a friend go to opposite sides of this wall your voice is supposed to echo over to the otherside. I could not get it to work. But Y has in the past. There is also a bunch of steps you climb. Then there is this circular marble area. If you stand on this marble stone in the centre it is supposed to make your voice sound heavenly.








After the temple of heaven I tried to look what is nearby. Aha - The Mosque. Walked down to the mosque. Could not go inside. It is green.




Now we was thinkin - where there is a mosque ---- there is a Chinese muslim restaurant!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! yes plenty to choose from. boch choy & chicken, chinese tea was tre good. hen hao. haochi

We walked in the general direction we may find a train station. Walked past some interesting foods. Looked like dark brown bread rolls.

Ooooooh there was a lamb tied up outside the muslim restaurant. the cook came out and was untying him. "do you think they are going to kill him - said Y" I said 'yes because the meat needs to be halal - killed in the name of allah. It was a cute sheep that said baaaaaa. a horse rode past us today also.

Anyway as usual we got lost and ended up lost in a maze of hutongs near - Changchun jie station. These hutongs were very friendly. people smiling. I started chatting to people. There were temporary outdoor fruit sellers. people soaking beans outside or drying their laundry. kids, old people, people playing mahjong. evidence in some parts of old bulidings turned in rubble - readdy to be skyscrapers. I chatted to some people.
I chatted to a lady in Chinese. She told me she is 88 and her husband who was with her was 90. I told her I am from australia. she said "people from overseas countries welcome to china" she was so cute and friendly. I want to go back and hang out at Changchun.



I really feel settled in China.

They say that with planes making travel so quick that your body arrives before your mind.



But I think I used to have this idea that psychologically China was distant to the West. I think this type of false thinking comes from ancient times - When China was quite unknown. The Orient. blah blah. And people hold onto these ideas. The human mind is a funny thing.