A Visit to Hop-fa-guh!

Our last stop for the first day was the Temple of Heaven, which is an imperial complex of religious buildings/park area in central Beijing.  It was visited twice a year by the Emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties for annual prayers to heaven for a good harvest.

We went to the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests (referred to by China hands like myself as the HoPfGH, and pronounced “Hop-fa-guh”). 

(Editor’s Note: Are you making stuff up again?  Blogger: I swear on my mother’s grave that I’m not.  Editor: Your mother is still alive!  Blogger: I will tell you what – go ask anyone who has been to China if they have been to “Hop-fa-guh”.  Oh, and let me know how they react.)

Another UNESCO World Heritage Site, it’s another great site.  As I wrote on a previous trip blog, “UNESCO” means “You Must Go!”

Constructed from 1406 to 1420 during the reign of the Yongle Emperor, it was built around the same time as the Forbidden City.  Occupied by the Anglo-French Alliance during the Second Opium War, it was also the headquarters for the Eight Nation Alliance (I really feel like that should be the next song played after “Seven Nation Army” but I might be the only person in the world to think that.  Please join me!).

As the regarded “Son of Heaven” the Emperor had extra pressure on him to ensure a good harvest.  He and his crew (staff) would move from the Forbidden City to the Temple of Heaven, wear special robes, and not eat meat.  He would pray to heaven for good harvests, and perform a ceremony at the winter solstice.  If the ceremony was not perfect, it was seen as a bad omen for the whole nation in the coming year.  Talk about pressure!

On our way in, we saw many Chinese playing cards, Chinese Chess (which I had never heard of) and some other games.  It’s likely that mahjongg and Chinese checkers is also played, but we just didn’t see it.  We entered through one of the three main halls, and, after climbing the slick marble stairs to the base of the HoPfGH.

We could not go in, but could sort of look in (there was a crowd).  Really, I think the building itself is the main attraction (other than knowing that, based on the harvest, the emperor’s approval rating would rise and fall because of the weather).  We exited via the middle of the three main halls, and walked into the park.

There we were met by a Tai Chi expert for a class.  I did it for a short period, but I was so stressed by trying to crane my head to see what he was doing and copying it, that I walked away.  If Tai Chi is supposed to be relaxing, I was going the other direction.  Rather than raise my blood pressure, I stopped.  Carol continued on – she did well, as did my other compatriots in the group.  In all, five of us skipped it, while 14 were game.  Instead, I hung out in the park, enjoying the warming sun and watching Tai Chi, the birds, and actually relaxing.

We had a free night for dinner, so at Leo’s suggestion, we went next door to the GL Restaurant.  Although none of the wait staff spoke English and neither of us speak Chinese (shocking!), the menu had pictures and English subtitles.  We had a really good, inexpensive meal of roast duck, green beans and beef, shrimp and spinach dumplings, and pork dumplings.  Washed down with a couple of Tsingtao beers, the meal was quite good.  They even brought us mineral water so we didn’t have to drink the hot water.

(The Chinese predilection for hot water is even worse than the European preference for room temperature drinks.  No one ever says – “well, that hot water is certainly refreshing!” Apparently 1.4 billion Chinese CAN be wrong!  Rant over).

Afterwards, we joined Ian and Nancy in the hotel bar.  They are a delightful couple from Michigan with solid Scottish accents (they moved to the States from Scotland in 1976.  We spent an enjoyable time whiling away the evening swapping stories of family and travel.  A nice nightcap to an amazing start to the China part of the trip.