And once again, Temple of Heaven was one of the highlights of the trip. This place really is just so cool. If you can only do two or three things in Beijing, go to the Great Wall, go shopping at Silk Alley and go to Temple of Heaven.
The outer courtyards of Temple of Heaven are full of Chinese doing their morning exercises. Tai Chi, Kung Fu, stretches, dancing... And all are welcomed to participate. We sang Jingle Bells with a group of ladies, we learned Tai Chi ball and played some hacky sack. We stretched and hung from bars. We used the work out machines. Some in our group even learned how to crack this huge whip! All the people there are super friendly and they want you to join them. Some of the sale whatever their "thing" is--like playing hacky sack, or Tai Chi ball. I ended up buying rings, hacky sack and tai chi ball and I can't wait to play them with my family!
Dancing with the Stars--Temple of Heaven version! Seriously, these people were holding a ball room dancing class.
These people are amazing!
I'm NOT that flexible!
Gymnastics anyone? Too bad Tanith wasn't there.
Some good back bends for me.
I'm even pointing my toes--in my new Ugg boots of course!
My dad on a row machine type of thing
I'm sure my ice skating coach will be happy to see that I actually did my stretches while I was there!
Exercising on the "machines" GO DAD GO!
Super Quinn showing us his stuff!
I'm sure this guy though I was a NUT!
but he was simply amazing!
Ah, the core strength this man had...
I always love watching these.
Me and the Tai Chi Ball MASTER!
This was the group of ladies who played Jingle Bells and encouraged us all to sing along!
My dad with the temple of heaven in the background.
me (in my new coat!) at the temple of heaven.
Self Portrait of my dad and I at the Temple of Heaven..
Kung fun
Swords...
A ring toss game, where you catch the rings with your head.
Besides the exercises, the actual Temple of Heaven is really neat and just like last year, I bought a hot chocolate again there.
I look forward to going in 2011. The temple of heaven is just a very Chinese place. The vibe is so cool, the people so friendly and you just can't help but smile when you go!
3 comments:
Looks like tons of fun. I want a park like that.
I was just thinking the same thing. How fun would that be to have a park like that one in my hometown!
Love the photos. I really want to take a tai chi class!
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