Beijing – Day 5 and on to Xi’an

Last day in Beijing today.  When we first got here we were worried that 5 days was going to be too long, here we are and it’s hard to believe it went by so fast.  It is another overcast day today but not that rainy, so other than having to wear coats, we’re in pretty good shape.

Our destination today was the Temple of Heaven, which as the name implies was where the Emperor made offerings to heaven each year in hopes of a good harvest.  Like all the other imperial sites we have seen, the scale of this collection of buildings is amazing.  It is far more like a large city park than a temple so you could easily spend the better par of a day just walking around the grounds and enjoying a break from the hustle of the city.

Despite their size, the main buildings were used very little, serving mostly as storage for religious items during the year and one big ceremony conducted by the Emperor.  The rest of the time the site was pretty quiet, which, given the time and effort it would have taken to build seems like a waste.

After the Temple of Heaven we spent the rest of our day wandering around Beijing, checking out some shops here and there and some of the older neighborhoods (most of these areas are being torn down and replaced with high rise apartments so that way of life is quickly disappearing).  We had lunch in a complete dive where all we could do was point at things we wanted that other people were eating.  The food was very good though and extremely cheap (about $4 for both of us).

Around 8:00 we headed for the railway station to catch the train from Beijing to Xi’an.  As the primary means of intercity travel, the train (and station) were packed, but we had the foresight to reserve a private cabin with two bunks and our own bathroom.  The tickets were more expensive of course, but reasonable compared to an airline ticket and certainly more comfortable.  The ride itself is 11 hours so we actually slept through most of it anyway, and for the few hours we were awake in the morning we got to see some of the Chinese countryside.

Today our main goal is to see the Terracotta Army just outside of Xi’an.