Temple of Heaven

Yesterday (Sunday) morning, we visited the Temple of Heaven. I'll try to post a few pictures later today.

The TofH is located in a park on the southern edge of imperial Beijing. I hadn't known that with its grounds, it is over three times the size of the Forbidden City.

I'll leave it to Wikipedia to describe the buildings and history, and tell you about some unexpected things we saw:

• Older men and a few boys doing calligraphy on the paving stones with long brushes and buckets of water. According to our guide, it's excellent for maintaining flexibility.
• Women hitting a shuttlecock back and forth with their feet (badminton with no rackets and no net).
• Ballroom dancing and t'ai-chi (actually not a surprise to us, since these are common forms of exercise in Chinese parks).
• Musicians performing covers of Taiwanese pop songs and attracting large crowds of all ages.
  
• Musicians performing songs from Peking opera and attracting small groups of retireees.

The buildings were extensively restored prior to the Olympics. The difference is so striking that it's obvious when you compare pictures from a few years ago with the pictures we took yesterday.