For 500 years in the Ming and Qing dynasties, this was an important place of worship for abundant harvests. It is the most important temple in China.
Imperial hall of heaven
An important building with 9 figurines on the roofline.
The echo wall is a building so designed that you can carry on a conversation on one side with another person on the other side through whispers.
The circle mound is comprised of stones around a center stone with 3 circles of 9, 18, and 81 stones referring to the 9 heavens. The center is called the heavenly centre stone and one that stands there will be particularly resonant.
Another beautiful park. This one has been a model for architecture and landscaping in the east and the west. The buildings in particular are architectural marvels.
I spent a morning touring the grounds of the summer palace. This is northwest of the forbidden city and the imperial family would escape government life to relax here. It is really a park and one can imagine what it would be like to be free to swim, walk through the woods, and be carefree. I enjoyed the beauty of nature and the smell of pine and cedar.
The gardens, temples, and pavilions are in harmony with nature. The Chinese name means Nourishing Peace Garden.
During the hot summer, the imperial family preferred the Summer Palace to the Forbidden City. Dowager Empress Cixi lived here for some time, with much speculation of extravagence.
History:
In 1750, Emperor Qianglong, 4th Qing Dynasty emperor ordered the building of the first Summer Palace, named Qingyi Yuan or ‘the Garden of Clear Ripples’.
In 1860, it was destroyed by the Anglo-French Allied Forces and rebuild in 1886.
In 1888, the Summer Palace was given its present-day Chinese name, Yihe Yuan, and served as a summer resort for the Empress Dowager Cixi.
In 1900, it was destroyed by the Allied Forces of the Eight Powers.
In 1912, it was rebuilt as one of the final commissions of the Qing Dynasty (1644–1912).
The drum tower was used for telling time until 1924. It was built in 1272 during the reign of Kublai Khan and was rebuilt after two fires during the Ming and Qing dynasties. Beginning in the Han Dynasty, the system of the “morning bell” and “dusk drum” necessitated towers to be built. The Drum Tower was used to keep time during the night hours.
Many very steep stairs to get to the tower.
In the tower are many relics used to keep time through Chinese history.
The Kalou used the movement of water to tell time and was very accurate. Of course the water had to not freeze and later mercury was used instead of water for clock movement. The beilu uses movement of little balls to accurately tell the time. The bell tower was under construction.
From there I searched for Beihai Park and the white tower I have seen from time to time. It is a large park with half being covered with water. In the center is the Jade Flowery islet with a large white dagoba.
The Tibetan lama suggested to the first emperor of the Qing Dynasty to build the Tibetan dagoba to show his belief in Buddhism and his desire for the unification among various Chinese ethnic groups. It is a beautiful park and while walking around the dagoba you could smell the numerous pines there. It has been two years since I smelled the pines and miss that.
This Reading Cloister houses tablets kept from 220 to 1644 and had important history of Chinese calligraphy. You can see the tablets on the lower floor (they look like windows).
After that I went back to the hotel. It was a very long day with a lot of walking. Quite interesting to be on the Great Wall, then see innovations in how they measured time, and walj in a beautiful park.
Before breakfast I took a run to go around the wall of the forbidden city. Since they are preparing for their 100 year celebration of the communist party, security was pretty tight. Just getting on the sidewalk in front required screening and checking ID including questions:
Where are you from?
What do you do in Guangzhou?
What kind of school?
Why are you here?
Of course I was just going for a run at that time. I passed in front of Tiananmen Square.
I had to make a long square around due to the security checkpoints. It was good to get a feel for the places around the hotel. Many police and forces….
Along the North side of the forbidden city.
In ancient times, the emperor was said to be a son of Heaven, and therefore Heaven’s supreme power was bestowed upon him. The emperors’ residence was built facing north. Common people were not to be at the Palace. Some facts :
The construction of the grand palace began with Emperor Yongle of the Ming Dynasty in 1406 until 1420.
From 1420 to 1644 there were 14 emperors of the Ming Dynasty.
Then it served as the imperial palace of the Qing Dynasty.
During the Second Opium War it was controlled by Anglo-French forces until the end of the war.
The last Emperor of China, Puyi, left in 1912.
In 1925, the Forbidden City became the Palace Museum.
There are 90 palaces and courtyards with 980 buildings and over 8,728 rooms.
It is 961 meters long from south to north and 753 meters wide.
There are 3 parts : the defense which consists of a moat and wall, the inner court, and the outer court.
Gate of heavenly peace.
Meridian gate which is the south gate.
Outer court consists of the hall of Supreme harmony which houses the dragon throne, hall of Central harmony where speeches were practiced, and hall of preserving harmony where there were banquets.
Gate of correct conduct where military entered. Gate of Supreme harmony is where the emperor meets with officials. Hall of Supreme harmony. Hall of preserving harmonyThese vats are used to hold water for fighting fires and are throughout the city. Fires in the winter keep the water from freezing.
The gate of heavenly purity leads to the inner court.
The first inside the inner court is the Palace of Heavenly Purity (Qianqinggong), the emperors’ sleeping quarters.
The second , behind it is the Palace of Union and Tranquility (Jiaotaidian), where the imperial seals were stored.
The third hall is the hall of Terrestrial Tranquility (Kunninggong), the emperors’ wedding room.
Palace of Heavenly PurityPalace of Earthly Tranquility
There are 6 eastern and 6 western palaces where business was conducted and contained living quarters of the emperor, expresses, and concubines.
Animals in the roof line
There is a row of mystical animal statuettes placed along the ridge line of halls that were only for official use. The animals, like phoenixes, dragons, and lions, have powerful meanings in Chinese culture.
The number of animals is different based on the importance of the buildings. You can see nine animals on the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the most important structure in the Forbidden City, and seven on the Palace of Earthly Tranquility, the residence of the Empress.
The roofline of hall of Supreme harmony.
Lions
In Chinese culture, the lion is the king of the animals, and is regarded as a symbol of power and strength. The lions are always in pairs, with the female lion on the left and the male on the right.
Other buildings
Floating jade pavilionPalace of eternal harmonyHall of imperial peace Hall of literary eleganceMountain of accumulated elegance Hall of imperial supremacy.
I then visited the gallery of timepieces. This houses some really ornate timepieces gifted from throughout the world.
Palace of tranquil longevity
This is one of three 9 dragon screens that exist in China and made in the 1770’s.
It was a beautiful day and everything is gorgeous. I love the history and seeing all of the beautiful buildings.
Qiyun Shan means ‘mountain as high as the clouds’. The red sandstone rock was favored by the Taoists and is a mountain home to temples. Many are built into the mountain and the sandstone rock leaves the landscape to unique shapes
A view from the cable car. This is the shape of a gourd
There were many young people dressed in traditional dress for photographic display and answer questions.
Shou rock was created with a smooth character (meaning LONGEVITY) with the correct dimensions for yin and yang. It is said that if you walk around the mountain it will give you longevity of 99 years and touching the rock will give you a total of 100. Of course I touched the rock. I only had to jump a little…
These tablets line the Yintian gate. They have been left behind by sages that made pilgrimages to the mountain. This is a sacred and quiet place for reflection and reverence.
Cave of 8 immortals. In the center are the gods fur Heaven, Earth, and Humankind with the 8 immortals along the sides.
Zhenxian cave
Yujun cave is to offer sacrifice to the dragon king.
We walked through the little village neae the peak of the mountain. I am a lover of street food and found these glutinous rice cakes with filling. One is a sweet red bean mixture that is delicious and the other has bamboo, tofu, and pickled greens inside. They were both good but I loved the bamboo one the best.
Photos are not allowed at the Taisu temple but I did take a picture of the element I was born under. The Chinese characters in the 1964 is fire. That means I am a fire dragon!
We continued back to the top of the mountain and then siren to the other side. Along the way are 13 pavilions. It is said that climbing the mountain through the 13 pavilions and going to the temple is an sxt and test of faith.
Established in 1131 in the Ming and Song dynasties, the village is charming and well preserved. What makes Hongcun Village so unique is that the village was designed by a Feng Shui master to resemble a cow. The two old trees at the entrance to the village represent the horns, the four stone bridges the legs, the ponds the stomach, etc. This is the entrance we took to the village and the two trees are on each side of the photograph.
After checking into this cute hotel, I went off to find a place to run. I went along the river to head up out of the town. I passed through a couple of farming villages.
The countryside during the run was beautiful and uneventful except for a couple of dogs. The villagers admonished them when they wouldn’t leave me run through.
This house looks like it could be from the US. Not what I expected to find in the rural area.
After the run I went out exploring with a few of the others on the tour. We found the two trees that made the horns of the cow (ox). One of the trees was used when there was a marriage. The bride is carried around the base of the tree.
The other tree, a very large gingko, is used similarly but when someone passes away.
While walking we noticed this post office sells drinks and cocktails. We went in for a look. They sold some unique stamps and novelties as well as drawings from the many students who come here to practice drawing the village and the mountains.
While we were there a couple chose a post card and sat down to compose it before mailing.
This is one of the bridges that is the legs of the cow and the lake that is central to the village.
Hongcun is unique among all Chinese villages for its very sophisticated water system. Its two large ponds are connected to a series of flowing streams which pass by every house, providing water for washing, cooking, and bathing.
Sights from around the village.
I love the signs I see here in China.
Hongcun at night was beautiful.
There was a charming old gentleman selling small goods. He was in any area not many people were at. I bought a bowl and cup made from bamboo.
I woke up early to get in another run and view more areas while there were less people.
A pile of bamboo I bought a fried dough with a sesame seed filling inside. It was quite tasty.
Outside the village I ran in a different direction than the day before.
This road is a heritage road between multiple UNESCO heritage sites.
After a great day on Saturday of watching Godzilla vs. Kong, eating unbelievable fish, and then enjoying a massage, Jack and I planned our next day.
We ate dim sum with friends and I colored hard boiled eggs to give to them.
After dim sum, we went to check out the alpaca Cafe but first found the comic city at the entrance to the metro.
The alpaca Cafe was pretty fun. It was an open air room between buildings with a few smaller covered rooms for the cats, pigs, and bunnies. It was fun to see children excited about the animals.
This Cafe across the alley has Shiba Inu dogs. I’m surprised that there are dog cafes. This other cafe across the alley has an alpaca as well but it seems to just make some extra money.
We traveled to haizhu district to find the DragonBoat training center. We met a few members at a going away party for my friend Maiko who was headed back to Japan. We learned how to paddle correctly which is much like what you do stand up paddle boarding. If you do it wrong then your arm hurts and you Ajay get schooled. We did drills including two at a time paddling the whole boat. It was quite the workout.
The village deals in bolts of fabric and also small scale sewing of clothing.
The old villages have shorter buildings with evidence of older brick and styling. They look forward to development as they receive multiple apartments for an income.
I had tried going there the week before by myself but was not able to follow the directions to get there without being late. Instead of just going home I walked around haizhu lake instead.
I went to a blood drive at a hospital to make a blood donation. I have done this before and have a blood donor card in China. I could not give blood though as they just changed their rules. I would have had to give blood one more time before I turned 56 to still give blood until 60. I was pretty disappointed but at least Jack gave blood for the first time.
This is a jellied dessert in a ginger syrup. What I like about deserts here is that they are not very sweet.
We then traveled to Nansha watershed park. Even though there are very few cases here, we still wear masks and there are checkpoints to check temperature and check health codes through the app. It tracks if you have been in a high risk area. If only other countries followed what could be done to keep infection low.
The lotus flowers were beautiful.
These are the pods from the lotus and the seeds are used here as well in cooking and medicine. The root is also used for cooking.
We walked along the water to look for birds. I found egrets.
Of coarse feeding the koi was fun.
View from the tower
We then walked through the forest.
Nansha port
We walked along the road to find the seafood market.
Fisherman’s wharf
At the seafood market they displayed many catches. They also showed the eggs that are in them as well as that is a delicacy.
Local fishermen sell their catch to grab customers before they enter the seafood market. Look at the size of the oysters.
What I bought was dried squids for a snack. We had already made plans for dinner. It was a great adventure looking at the variety of fish and shellfish being sold.
After a three hour school meeting on Saturday morning (it was a great meeting), I took a long walk around the favourview neighborhood while Jack made plans for sightseeing further south. The plan was to meet my friend Morgana for trivia that night at a restaurant/bar called the GOAT in Panyu. I had been promising her for some time. Since it is an hour away we needed other things to do.
Jack suggested Nansha which is a place I have wanted to go for some time. We headed to the gardens. Walking into the garden is a canal flanked by restaurants. We stopped for a late lunch. Women and children were dressing in traditional costumes for their photos to be taken.
We ate stinky tofu (it has a fermented smell but the taste is no different). We also had sour noodles.
These lovely women were kind to let me have their picture taken with them.
Down by the shore there is a beach but only to play in the sand. There is no swimming.
Near the beach I saw a robot in a vending machine for ice cream and a few simple drinks. Of course we needed to order ice cream just to see how it works.
We walked along to Nanling tower. I am always amazed how the tree roots grow here.
The statue of the goddess is to protect the harbor and the fishermen.
The two temples can be seen and you get there after ascending a fair amount of stairs. The Pagoda is further up to the right.
Outside the entry gate house are two lions standing at the ready. Inside are two gods that can hear and see 1000 km and are protectors from enemies.
They were setting off firecrackers from donations of others to the temple.
We climbed the first set of stairs to the first temple.
We climbed more stairs to the second temple. There we saw statues of great generals who battled at sea.
At the top of the next set of stairs was the pagoda and an arsenal that protected the port.
Entrance to the artillery bunker and cannon.
The big gun. We walked one other trail that led to another bunker and very large cannon.
We should know that a path that is quickly being grown over is not being used. The path was blocked at the bottom and we had to scale down a steep embankment. It was a better alternative to climbing all the steps again.
At the bottom there was a pond with not only fish but turtles. They are a delicacy here in this part of the world but think they are safe here.
A snack of Buffalo milk yogurt with ginger. Also red bean warm dessert.
At the GOAT, we were in first place after the first round on 80’s trivia but skipped after the others especially Pixar movies. A good weekend!
As luck would have it, my Google Pixel stopped functioning correctly during Chinese New Year. I was able to buy a Xiaomi phone that is actually quite wonderful but apps take their time to figure things out when you are in a foreign country. Even though I could upload to WordPress initially, the last week gave me problems. Needless to say this post should have been published well over a week ago.
I have been to some of the places I went to on this tour before but was not aware of the history. Cycle Canton had this tour during Chinese New Year that explored more than I have seen before.
We visited the Huangpu Ancient Port, which was the entry point to Imperial China for all foreign traders. Just five families controlled the movement of goods in and out. The Emperor was never involved directly and the families were much like a cartel. The wharf and village is 1000 years old. They exported tea, porcelain, and silk. Ships had to dock in Macao first then be granted privilege to come to this port. The trade was called the Canton system. While they were docked here they fixed boats and would go from here on the Pearl River further in to Guangzhou on bamboo boats to go to 13factories. The cartel of 5 families held merchandise in a series of buildings on Shamian Island much like a warehouse. They would bring the goods then from there in Xiguan to Huangpu port to load onto the ships.
The three pillars of Guangzhou are the pagodas that are scattered in the area. I have visited two of them and actually ran my marathon around the third. These acted as lighthouses and markers to travelers. Before the big buildings, they were the landmarks you could see.
We then crossed on the ferry to Changzhou island, and visited a few historic sights.
One site was a hidden fortress Bei hu gang. This fortress has positions to shoot cannons. This fortress was used during the Opium Wars. They had canons and places for infantry and storage.
Officer courtyard.
We toured the Huangpu Military Academy, which has great architecture. In 1911, Sun Yat Sen with others overthrew the Qing Dynasty. The newly named PRC though was only formed in the south. In 1921 they built a military school to help overthrow warlords in the North and learn military techniques. Chiang Kai Shek was leader of the school. In 1926 there was no more coordination between the nationalists and communists in China which led to the cultural revolution later when the communists took control.
One of two guard houses on each side of the gate facing the river. This is one of China’s navy ships in the river. Officer desks. Courtyard for muster. Military propaganda for sale outside the military museum. We were surprised that material referencing Taiwan was being sold. Other items were the Kuomintang found by Sun Yat Sen.
We tested our biking skills weaving through urban villages. The buildings are called handshake buildings as you can be at your front door and shake hands with the person across from you. They were built for migrant workers. The farmers were much richer and lived in larger houses.
We also biked along a canal some call the ‘Venice of Guangzhou’. I have never been to Venice but am sure it is more than this.
We stopped for a lunch at a local restaurant that was next to the farms and fields of the very rural part of the island. Unfortunately metro lines are being added here so hard to decide what will be the future. There will be green spaces to bring visitors but this will most certainly change.
This is a photo of someone’s home taken from the second floor of the restaurant.
Ling family ancestral hall
We continued cycling through fields, greenways and more urban villages to visit the first foreign graveyard of China.
Here is the final resting place of many foreign diplomats, traders and sailors, including the first US Minister to China, who has been buried here since the late 1700’s. Many took multiple voyages back and forth, and it was noted that some died on the passages.
We also climbed a very large number of steps up a big hill to get a good view of the river.
This historically pivotal location was instrumental in trade and during war. We ended the tour on the banks of the Pearl River, overlooking a view of central Guangzhou, and drinking a beer at the local village. An epic tour, exploring the rural fringes of the city that is still greatly rural, at least for now.
