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Trip report: Beijing, Xian, Datong and Chengde(4)by walter_ba21

Posted at: 2008-12-1; By amanda; Clicks:925

15 June – Chengde

The visit program of the day included the Mountain Resort and two of the Eight Outer Temples. The visit of the Mountain Resort started with a pageant in imperial costumes, which take place every Sunday morning. It has been interesting. Then we started the visit.

The Mountain Resort is huge, with parks, forests, lakes, pagodas, and palaces ringed by a wall long 10 km. The buildings are simply, all built with sandal wood because the emperor loved the smell of this wood and because the fragrance take away insects. With an electrical bus we visited the hills inside the resort and the wall, from where we hade a nice view over Chengde and some temples. During the visit, we had also the opportunity to look at a short concert of traditional music played with antique instruments that we appreciate very much.

Than we visited the Putuozongcheng Temple, called also Little Potala, with its golden roof and the Puning Temple or Temple of Universal Peace, famous for the giant wooden statue of Guanyin with 42 arms. Both temples are in Tibetan style and are very suggestive. There are lots of people who come here praying and offering incense to the Buddha. Inside the two complexes, there are many incense burners and prayer wheels, characteristic of the Tibet an Buddhism. We liked very much these temples, which are an exquisite example of Chinese religious architecture. We had lunch before visiting the Puning Temple, in a restaurant situated in an old temple. The location of this restaurant is great and the lunch has been good.

On the road back to Beijing the traffic was incredibly chaotic and the drivers undisciplined, but fortunately I didn’t have to guide. I have not envied our driver. We arrived in Beijing in the late afternoon, just in time for a walk in the Wangfujing street before to have dinner in a Muslim restaurant.

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16 June - Beijing

We wake up late, again too late for breakfast. We took a taxi to the Lama Temple (Yonghegong Temple). It is one of Beijing's most famous monasteries and one of the most important temples of Tibetan Buddhism in the world. The architecture combines Han and Tibetan style. The temple was built in 1694. Originally it has been the official residence for court eunuchs, successively has been converted in the court of prince Yong and at last, it was transformed in a monastery. Undoubtedly it is one of the most beautiful temples in Beijing. We observed inside the temple many people who was burning incenses and was praying. There are only a few tourists and we were ill at ease with our photo cameras in this place of cult. The atmosphere was very evocative. It’s curious to notice that also who enter to pray, have to pay the entrance ticket. After the visit of the temple we went to lunch (Mc Donald’s) and then we decide to walk to the Drum Tower. From the tower we enjoyed a beautiful panorama over the hutong and, in distance, the top of the Jingshan Gongyuan. In the opposite direction there is the ancient Bell Tower. The Drum Tower was built in 1272 during the reign of Kublai Khan in the center of the ancient capital. The drums were used to announce the time. Today the drumming performances take place every hour for the tourists. It’s fascinating.

To be continued ...

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