Tiantan: Discovering Silence

So just when I had thought that the Summer Palace was the most peaceful and tranquil place in all of Beijing...I was wrong.

Yesterday I visited Tiantan - the Temple of Heaven. I have come to the realization that with only two weeks left, I have to venture out on my own more often. So that's what I did.

Imagine, in the center of a city with 14 million people - that I was able to find a place where I could look all around me and just see tall trees and grass. There was not a person in sight. The sun shining down on me. This feeling of 'Individual Serenity' is something I have really been missing. The moment this feeling came over me, I felt rejuvinated and absolutely overjoyed. I had to spin around a few times in the trees to make sure that there really weren't other people around - and sure enough - I was on my own.

I returned back to the flat about 3 hours later having experienced so much; watching old local women play jianzi better than the young hackeysackers back home, learning the basics of chinese chess after watching a group of local men play a couple matches, seeing with my own two eyes - the temple where the emperors of two dynasties used to pray for good harvest, watching locals yell to their friends down the Echo Wall and seeing young kids playing games under the canopies of hundreds of trees in full bloom.

Had I not just gotten up and gone to Tiantan - I would have missed all of this...and with only 2 weeks left - I can't let any more opportunities pass me by.

Lots more adventures to come!