Temple of Heaven

On our staycation for CNY we decided to do some sight seeing around Beijing.  We made a stop at the Temple of Heaven.  It is considered "the Altar of Heaven".  Built in the early 1400's it was used by Emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties for ceremonies, sacrifice and praying to Heaven for good harvest.  I could go on and on with a history lesson but I will spare you the gory details and just show you some pictures.
The girls were very excited to go to the Temple of Heaven. (Nothing a 12 and 9 year old like better than sight seeing and history lessons in the cold)  Ella took her usual precautions by pulling her hair back and putting her hood up (with little success).  It never fails we always attract the Chinese paparazzi.  People will try to sneak a picture of us or just blatantly ask if they can take a picture with the girls.  We should start charging for it! 
It was really quite beautiful there.............take a look!


Me and the girls

They have nice knockers here.

The Temple of Heaven

The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest.

In the surrounding gardens there were clusters of people everywhere playing card games.

I believe this was the Imperial Vault of Heaven.

Do you see Kelly???

Sometimes it's handy being tall here......you can take pictures and see over most everybody else's heads!  Can you find Kelly???

What can I say about this picture...............cheek chillers????

Inside the Imperial Vault

Only the Emperors could use this door.  To this day no one else has ever gone through it.

This leads to the Circular Mound Altar.  There is a huge gong in the middle.

And a picture with a fan.

Julia banging the gong.....kind of ...but not really!

Have to laugh....this is how the girls walk around....hoods up and heads down!

Kelly and I

The Chinese love their ornamental hats.

Chinese warrior????  Nope, just a guard.