Beijing Day 2

We started Thursday super early at 6 o'clock as we had a busy schedule planned. We went first to the Temple of Heaven which was lovely in the quiet morning air and gave us plenty of time to look around before the crowds descended. My favourite part of the Temple of Heaven complex was the Ceremonial Mound, white and sparse against the blue sky, a contrast to the rest of the complex, elaborately decorated with gargoyles on every eave and gaudily coloured in blues, greens and yellows, symbolising earth, sky and heavens. But then I'm a classicist, I like my ruins ruined and my palette spartan. The whole complex has beautiful symmetry and curves and is laid out geometrically with the processional route from and to mapped out.

From the Temple of Heaven we returned to Tiannmen Square in order to visit the Forbidden City. The Forbidden City is so big, I can't do it justice, without reverting to cliches or just saying: "Dude it is totally big..."
I think we managed to walk about maybe 60% of it and I'm being optimistic. It is decorated in the same style as the Temple of Heaven, both having been renovated in the 1700s or so. There was a tower with phenomenonal dragons gilding it but we couldn't discover how to get to it.
After leaving the Forbidden City, we crossed the road into Jinshan park and climbed the mountain to the Buddhist temple on the top, beautiful with astounding views of the Forbidden City, again impressing upon you how massively big it is, and Belhai park behind the Forbidden City. I would like to see Beijing in Spring, I imagine it is quite beautiful with the parks and the lakes and the cherry blossom and the willow trees. As it was both Belhai and Jingshan had a frosty beauty to them, with evergreen trees and ruby red flags streaming.
Belhai had a street market going, with fried scorpions, date palm juice and sugar spun works of edible art for sale.Magic.