A New Hope for Sydney

We woke up to rain today, so we got an umbrella from the concierge and faced the cold, wet day to see some of Beijing's beautiful sights. We toured the Temple of Heaven where the emperor would go to pray twice a year. The first time, he would pray for rain and the second for a good harvest. These prayer times were full of rituals, such as animal sacrifices and multiple changes to the emperor's robes before he would pray. Each part of the ritual would be held in a different building. Then, when it was time to pray for rain, he would pray in an outside area where he would stand on a center stone. When he would pray for a good harvest, he would pray in the large temple.

After we were thoroughly soaked seeing this temple, we went to a noodle shop for lunch. Our guide Flora said that this shop was like Chinese fast food. The food was ok but definitely not the best we had since we've been here.

After lunch we drove to the outer part of the city to see the Summer Palace. Here the rain was coming down pretty good and it was foggy, so we couldn't see too well, but it was still beautiful. This palace is higher elevation and has a large lake so it would stay cooler. Also, it has the longest covered walkway in the world, over 700 meters long! This walkway overlooks the lake and is very beautiful.

Then we went to the night market to get some souvenirs and to enjoy the "cuisine" of scorpions, octopus, spiders and seahorses on a stick! No, we absolutely did not eat them....just took pictures.

When we got back to the hotel, we were soaked to the bone, freezing and exhausted. So, we went and got massages to help us relax, ordered room service of some yummy American food and passed out!