This post was from September 20, 2008.After recovering from a late night at the Karaoke place, Nerys (England), Wieteke, Anka (Germany), and I decided to go pay a visit to the Beijing Zoo and the Temple of Heaven.
The Beijing zoo was ok. The park was really nice, but the animals didn't seem to happy to be in their cages. We did get a nice look at the pandas though, which was the highlight of the zoo. It was kind of wierd seeing raccoon's and skunks there (animals you wouldn't think to see in a zoo in the States).
After grabbing lunch, we decided to head back to the Temple of Heaven (meeting up with Federico) since we didn't get a chance to see all of it from a couple of days ago. The Temple of Heaven is amazing! One of my favorite things I've seen here so far! It has a very different feel than the Summer Palace did. There were a lot of old people playing cards, and singing various traditional Chinese songs. It was a very relaxing atmosphere. It was nice too because we went a little later in the day, and there weren't so many people around. It was a nice chance to get a more personal experience.
The altar (pictured above) was one of my favorite spots. According to the ancient Chinese, the circular spot I am standing on was considered to be the center point of the earth (coinciding with the old Chinese views of China being the "Middle Kingdom," or the center of the earth). This place is a must for anyone planning a trip to Beijing.
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