A sea of bikes right before we arrive at the entrance of the Temple of Heaven Park. We arrived early in the day and once we got inside the park, we realized this was the mode of transportation for people enjoying this beautiful park. There is so much space within the park, so it didn’t feel crowded at all. The senior citizens make great use of the exercise equipment in one area of the park. They are also dancing, singing, playing musical instruments, and using outdoor toys. There are board games as well as cards and knitting going on. We spent a lot of time within this park. The locals were so sweet and connecting with us through their smiles and wanting us to play some of the outside games with them. They were so gracious as they all nodded and smiled when I asked their permission each time if I could take their pictures. The Temple of Heaven Park was one of my favorite places to see while in Beijing. The space was so sprawling and green! There are so many trees and grass to enjoy! To be able to get out of traffic and the feeling of being overcrowded, this was the place to be!
The locals were so engaging with us. Even though there was a huge language barrier, it was really broken with kindness, smiles, and lots of hand signals! Notice the beautiful trees? You really don’t see many when you are in Beijing. I read somewhere that there are 4,000 knotted cypress trees scattered throughout this park. Some of the trees are as old as 800 years!
This precious lady had a lot of getting up and go as she was doing her workout. We were wondering if Senior Citizens get into the park for free with the number of seniors who were there. It was so great to see so many talented and energetic people.
Various instruments were being played all throughout this park. It was nothing short of beautiful to be able to soak in all of this talent while walking through the Temple of Heaven Park. This is such a great place to walk and walk for miles.
This group of men and women diligently moving the floral baton up and down and all around using two sticks in their hands. All the while, they are moving their legs and feet together while in rows. Very impressive. It must take a lot of practice to make the choreography look so easy! I could have watched them all day long!
The park employees keep the grounds extremely clean. They are very proficient, constantly walking through the park and using these tiny, uneven brooms and dust pans.
I love taking pictures of precious little children. Just look at this little boy’s features. He’s just beautiful as he is looking around so curiously at everyone playing their musical instruments.
These lovely ladies were like giddy teenaged girls as I was asking them if I could take their pictures. Just a giggling away and they posed for this photo! They couldn’t speak a word of English. I told them how beautiful they were, which I really don’t think they understood at all, but it actually made them laugh all the more. They were still laughing as they walked away! It was such a sweet moment that made me just grin ear to ear. Just looking at this photo brings another smile to my face. They were so gracious to stop walking and pause for a moment to allow me to take their photo. Just yet another sweet moment of my day.
The Temple of Heaven is pictured directly behind Meg & Kate. It was incredibly cool to see something that was originally built in 1420 that is still standing and operating. People can tour the inside today.
Just another adorable little boy from China at the Temple of Heaven. He was helping his mom and dad by working at their smoothie station. It’s so funny to ask for permission to take a picture of children. They get all excited about it as they begin to pose and then….UP goes their arm and hand to make a peace sign! So 1970’s and adorable at the same time!
This man was using a can of water to dip his long calligraphy stick and brush. He then wrote Chinese Calligraphy using the brush on the pavement. The letters stayed a little bit before they would eventually evaporate. I really needed an interpreter with me at all times to figure out everything that was going on.
There are a lot of friendly games going on through the park. This resembles checkers to me. I watched for a little bit but had no idea of what they were doing.
Everywhere we turned there was a new activity. These people had music playing and were just dancing away, doing their own thing.
I thought you would enjoy seeing this bus. So cute and comical looking to me. It’s like a minibus, with tiny wheels. Full-sized people in a tiny-sized vehicle! So many different types and sizes of vehicles are all around Beijing. It’s so interesting to me. This one makes me wonder what year model it is.
We loved Beijing. I will be posting more posts from Beijing to include more people and sights to see like the Great Wall in great detail.
