In ancient times, the emperor would come to the Temple of Heaven to pray for a good harvest. The ceilings inside the temple are painted blue and green to represent the sky and life. Like many historical structures, the outer wall is circular to represent heaven and the inner wall is square to represent the earth. (In 1407, they still thought the world was flat and square. ) It's fascinating that these building were all constructed without nails. (This blog is like a fun travel journal and a history lesson! 😜
Now, the temple of heaven is largely used as a exercise park for seniors and a social gatherings place. There are people everywhere....exercising, palace cards, Chinese chess, and hackysack.
We tired to play a little hackysack ourselves.... and I'm pretty sure the locals were amused by our futile efforts. But we had a fun! Vivian even bought us our very oust Chinese hackysack so perhaps we will improve with practice.
It's very peaceful and serene. Music also fills the air. More pictures later.
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