Reaching For Heaven

Monday, March 19
Reaching for Heaven or at least the Pearl Market   

Today was the optional rickshaw ride to the Beijing  Hutong (old town) complete with the courtyard homes tour  and lunch but Judy and Ted joined us in the opt out. We chose to sleep a little later and go on a private adventure. Our plan included walking to the Temple of Heaven, hopping over to the Pearl Market and then finishing the day at the Lama Temple.

In actuality, we were enthusiastic but not resolved to complete the ambitious agenda. A little research ,i.e. asking at the front desk , convinced us that we didn't want to start the tour of the Temple with a 30 minute walk just to get there so we hailed a cab ( tab of $1.70). 

As with so many sights, the buildings and grounds were imposing and we were immediately taken with all the groups of  local people exercising on the grounds. There were clusters practicing tai chi, badminton, ballroom dancing -tango mostly-, Chinese "hacky sac" using feathered and weighted things, juggling and other activities not known in the west. This seems to be a common practice of going to the parks to exercise. It is easy to understand that the people choose to go out of their homes very frequently. The homes, at least in the city, are quite small and extended families live together so that the only child in the family can be cared for by the grandmother while the parents both work. Sometimes though the child is sent to boarding school at five if the parents and grandparents can not work their schedules to be able to provide for childcare.

Temple of Heaven

Slipping among 800 year old trees, we approached the imposing buildings on the grounds and on to the Temple of Heaven itself. This traditional building is a splendid representation of the Ming dynasty with its colorful red, cobalt and emerald painted facades. Unfortunately, we couldn't go inside but could peer into the cavernous space. I think there has always been a need in China to accommodate hoards of people as the public buildings are spacious and sparsely furnished. There was a lot of explanation about nine levels and nine rings but I don't remember the details. I will say the grounds were attractive even in the cool and damp weather and we enjoyed walking around as, apparently, did many other locals.

A magpie...one of the few birds we saw

Promenade

 After fairly thoroughly investigating the park, we braved the traffic...all eight lanes of rushing vehicles… and arrived at the much anticipated Pearl Market. Yes, there are pearls for sale at this landmark but also just about everything else. The Pearl Market is only one was several of what I'd call discount markets in the city. There are upscale shops and stores of all kinds on the main streets of the city to satisfy the trendy taste of the Chinese but, as a savvy American shopper, I wanted to go in search of the bargains. Paul  (and Bill Clinton ) have shopped the Pearl on previous visits and Paul likes to trade at Cathie's on the fourth level since that store is recommended by the American Embassy. As luck would have it, Cathie was at home for the day but we were treated well by Shelly (interestingly, many Chinese take American names because nonAsians find the Chinese names so difficult to pronounce).

I was in search of pearls of good quality (there are so many qualities in this land of pearls) for Betsy and Sylvia as well as Felice. Shelly explained that mostly she had fresh water cultured pearls from the vicinity of Shanghai and helped us choose some lovely pearls from thousands of strands. We watched as she hand knotted them for us with secure, silver clasps. Judy and I also chose some pearls to have made into earrings and she made them on the spot. Of course, I was tempted by a few other baubles. Luckily jewelry is easy to pack! The shop wasn't fancy and didn't have as big a selection as some stores but the prices were excellent.

 We perused other parts of the market and Ted made his only purchase of the trip so far: a warmer jacket and both Judy and I bought extra pieces of luggage for our expanding booty. Paul had already picked up more of the spinning noise and light tops at the toy bazaar_one of his favorite purchases.

 After traipsing around the market for over two hours, we caught a cab back to the hotel where we deposited our purchases and went across the street for a spicy and delicious Sichuan meal. The Lama temple will have to wait for the next trip.

Later overpriced drinks and snacks in the hotel completed a relaxing day. We all admitted the choice to opt out of the tour activities was a good one.