Day 4 - The Temple of Heaven and Off to Baoding

Day 4
Sunday, July 6

Today we went to the Temple of Heaven. I have to admit that at this point I am feeling a little bit "over" the old Chinese buildings. I know they are all so significant and special, but when you cram it all into a few days they all start to look alike and run together. I was not looking forward to another hot day of hiking around looking at ancient Chinese architecture.

The Temple of Heaven was visited by emperors who came there to pray and make sacrifices for a good harvest. It is associated with Taoism.

When we first entered there was a large park area where people were playing instruments and games. The first game we saw was a large group of people playing a game kind of like hacky sack, but with a weighted feathered toy. They were pretty good:

We walked a little further down and there were women playing a game sorta like badminton or tennis or ping pong. They offered to let me join - so I jumped in to try:

After giving it my best try, unsuccessfully, we kept walking. We approached a tall archway where a very old man was "painting" with water on the ground. He stopped to see us and then painted the symbols for "America" on the ground. He then gave me this awesome Chinese poem written in ancient calligraphy. He told our translator is was a gift.

I didnt really take an pics of the temple itself because I was so tired of the old buildings. It looked the same as all the other stuff. After the temple, we headed the train station. We rode a very nice bullet train to Baoding, China. This is where we will be teaching. The ride was only 40 minutes long. The hotel is very nice. We are within walking distance of many malls, restaurants, and supermarkets. We're in downtown Baoding, which has a population of over 4 million people. 

Tomorrow is a rest and planning day, and they school starts!!! So excited!