Don't worry or go to the bathhouse! China-2017. Part 5. Closer to Heaven.
Beijing-Zhangjiajie 2017-05 - 3.3 day breakfast Zhizhnyj duck we did not want. I'm still so-and-so the money is paid, but Nadia hardly touched it. Drank a coffee drink from the supermarket. It can be seen yesterday we, nevertheless, went over.
We collect suitcases. We did this almost every day of the trip. Even if the suitcase is not disassembled, it still has to be collected. Paradox)
We leave our things at the reception, and we ourselves go for a walk around the city. We have plenty of time, the plane to Zhangjiajie leaves at 18:15.
Probably, of all Chinese sights, the Temple of Heaven interested me the least. I wanted to go to the Drum Tower, the Summer Palace, Coal Mountain, or Beihai Park. But all this was quite far from our hostel, and it was necessary to pick up the suitcases and leave for the airport no later than 15:00, or even earlier. At first, I even tried to find a compromise in the form of a place to store luggage in the Dongjimen subway area, where the Aeroexpress train leaves from, but, after thinking, I had to abandon such a risky idea. If the suitcases could not be attached somewhere, then the whole day would be ruined, do not drag them along with you around the Summer Palace. And the Temple of Heaven is not far from the hostel, it takes a little time to explore and, besides, this is a rather unusual temple.
He is round.
(photo from internet)
It is more correct to say that in the Tiantan (Heavenly Altar) temple complex, and the more familiar name is the Temple of Heaven, there are two round buildings: a large Temple of the Harvest and a small Hall of the Heavenly Vault. It is the Temple of the Harvest that is usually called the Temple of Heaven. It is the most important building in the complex and the most beautiful. Why is this temple round? It symbolizes heaven. At the time when it was built, it was generally accepted that the sky was round and the earth was square.
For a hundred years this temple complex was the Temple of Heaven and Earth. Therefore, there are both round and square buildings. Then temples of the Earth, the Sun and the Moon appeared in Beijing, and this temple became the Temple of Heaven.
The main function of the Temple of Heaven is the emperor's conversation with God. The gods in the old days were bloodthirsty, they needed sacrifices for dialogue, therefore, 2 times a year, during the solstice, the emperor came to this temple, fasted, prayed, made sacrifices and asked heaven for good weather and a plentiful harvest.
At the beginning of the twentieth century, the last Chinese emperor performed the last rites there. Then there were no emperors in China, the temple stood closed and was not needed by anyone, until the very last Chinese emperor (sounds like the very last Chinese warning)) took the liberty of turning to God, not being an emperor at that time and not having imperial blood at all . Thus, the divine course of things was disrupted, the false emperor was crowned, and very soon they overthrew and socialism triumphed, and the temple was opened to the public.
This is such a strange story.
Then in China there was the very, very last emperor (the very, very last Chinese warning), but he ruled for less than two weeks and had nothing to do with the Temple of Heaven.
It’s not far for us to go to the same station that we went to the theater yesterday. The entrance to the complex is near the exit from the A2 metro station.
In Beijing, each subway exit is marked with the Latin letter ABC. . . , sometimes there is also a number. It is very convenient. I wrote down all the stations and their exits in advance, it helped us a lot to navigate.
We buy tickets. Various variations are offered, but it's hard to figure it out, everything is in Chinese. We take the cheapest ticket and go down the long alley to the Temple of the Harvest. First we go to the park. Such a park, at least in the place where we walked, nothing special.
And then - along a very beautiful, wooden and ancient, covered gallery.
I really love Chinese ancient architecture, and the coolness in such a place adds positive.
But the round temple turned out to be just a round temple.
Stepped bas-relief under glass.
Walked around the Temple clockwise at the top, walked counterclockwise at the bottom.
So what? Well, he didn't touch me. Although, I do not argue, it is very beautiful.
But I didn't have that trepidation that seizes me in ancient and sacred places.
Probably, this is all because the sanctity of this place was defiled by an impostor))
The park itself and the temple complex are very large.
To have fun, I think one should walk the path of the emperor. Enter from the southern entrance and along the main alley, through the Palace of Abstinence, through the Sacrificial Altar and the Hall of the Vault of Heaven along the Sacred Road to the Temple of the Harvest. Do you see how many capital letters? Also, the mood should have risen)
But we went in from the side, didn’t stay long, didn’t catch a special mood. We ate ice cream there, delicious, even in pretty decent chocolate. Did you know there is no chocolate in China? Well, that is, it exists, but mostly Russian) Although, judging by the latest global trends, I think that all the chocolate in the world is Ukrainian)
This was the end of the cultural program in Beijing. We still need to visit the bank.
It is not so easy to change foreign currency in China, you need to go to the Bank of China (in Chinese, Junguo inhan) and sit in a queue for a long time. We won't have time for that in Zhangjiajie, and I knew exactly where such a bank was in Beijing, so we headed there. We got off the subway right at the mall, twirled around a bit inside, asked where Wangfujin Street was, and went outside.
And then a surprise) In the place where the bank should be, there are strange-looking small buildings. We stop, deal with Mepsmi, a tuk-tuker drives up and offers us a lift. We brush it off and walk around these buildings. Mepsmi stubbornly shows that we have come, but the bank is not visible. A tuk-tuker will stick around for us, periodically repeating: “Let’s go, I’ll ride you. ” I need to practice Chinese, remember. For the purpose of language practice, I ask him if he knows where the bank is located.
- Yes! - he exclaims happily - of course I know! Get in, I'll take you!
And then we turn the corner and see the bank! ))
In the bank, everything happens for a very, very long time. An electronic queue entertains us with hieroglyphs, a girl worker comes up many times and checks our number. I miss you.
When it's Nadina's turn, time stretches even further. I think she's being interviewed for a job, she's been sitting at the window for so long. Yes, in Chinese banks there are chairs by the windows, because Chinese bank employees work very slowly) But there is nowhere to go, we sit there as long as we need and thank the Buddha, when we leave there, we have enough time to get to the hostel, pick up our things and move out slowly to the airport. I had an idea, after leaving the bank, to take a walk along Wangfujin Street, the very, very center of Beijing, if we ignore the huge and uncomfortable Tianmen Square. Well, you know, two in one, like Maidan and Khreshchatyk) This is my second time in Beijing and the second time I don’t go beyond the bank to Wangfujin. And then I was going to go to the hostel, through Tianmen Square, on foot, otherwise I have never got to the square either) But there is no time for this. Even taking into account the transfer, the metro is faster.
We don't see the point of calling a taxi. First, the problem of the pedestrian street. And secondly, Beijing is famous for traffic jams, and we cannot be late, the plane will not wait. Of course, according to my old habit, I took time with a margin, but I didn’t have to be particularly bored at the airport. Metro, transfer to the express train, a huge third terminal, check-in . . Oh, no) Not so fast! ) there was a flashlight left in the bowels - you can’t put it in luggage! - I leave the suitcase in hand luggage. Then the inspection, throw away the lighters (even lighters are not allowed to be brought into the domestik, but please, no one takes away the water)
Riding travelators… Huuuh! You can breathe, there is still time.
Here it is! The most blissful time to travel! I love airports and am always afraid of being late. Therefore, I arrive early, settle down somewhere in a warm place and rest. I don't have to rush anywhere! ))
I once wrote that in the third terminal, right inside, there is a train that brings passengers from the arrivals area to the exit. We are in domestic, it is a zone in the middle, so we can only see the train from the window.
We sit down to rest and have a bite to eat in a purely Chinese cafe. Does the logo remind you of anything? )
Lovely interior, soft sofas, good coffee, Chinese and non-Chinese around in half nap. .
On this trip, the Chinese surprised me with the absence of much fuss, they behaved not like the Chinese - they didn’t push, they didn’t yell, they didn’t spit (well, they almost didn’t spit)), there were exceptions, but, in general, I expected the worst.
We fly across half the country, almost 3 hours, at half past ten we leave Zhangjiajie Airport.
It's dark outside and it's raining. We bargain for a long time with taxi drivers who just laugh at my Chinese.
"I. . can. . speak. . Chinese…" I begin, according to all the rules of Chinese grammar.
-Ahahaha- taxi drivers neighing
-. . . A little bit! ) - I finish the sentence I started.
They roar even louder. They treat us with some fruits that look like chestnuts, we cautiously take one at a time.
-Why are they laughing? - asks Nadia.
-I distort the sounds, they hear something like: "nasalnik" and "pokolotnik".
We all giggle together.
We sit in the car to the most modest, he did not make fun of us, he should earn money. 35 yuan, 10-15 minutes, and we are on a pedestrian (again! )) street, splashing through puddles in the incessant rain, circling on a small spot and finally find the hotel, making a full circle and just burying ourselves in it. It seems to me that we were not brought to the hotel itself even once in 19 days) So that we, like white people, drove up to the entrance and steered our suitcases inside - like this, not once)) We are always with suitcases in some yards, stairs, mountains, gateways)) If you are planning to go on a trip with many crossings, take a minimum of things. Especially if you go to China. It's a land of stairs!
In Zhangjiajie, at this time of day, it is already night) The glass door was closed tightly - from the inside with an iron bracket.
- Nadia, wait, don't knock, I'll smoke, otherwise there might not be a balcony.
I'm looking for a lighter in my pockets, in a backpack, in a pack of cigarettes. . Ohtyzhblin.
-Knock)) The lighter was taken away at the airport.
A sleepy woman opened the door for us, found a lighter, slept a little more while I smoked, but came out to us again and dragged the suitcases to the fourth floor. I took two at once and ran and ran up the stairs. It's good that we don't have much stuff)
The room is spacious and clean.
Ooooh! The day is over! We fall and fall asleep)
