Fresh off the plane I went for an early morning stroll around the Temple of Heaven and the surrounding park, which provided the best possible start to my 5 days in Beijing. I sat down with the tasty jianbing bought off a street vendor and relaxed watching the Beijingers go about their morning rituals whilst I celebrated the arrival of my little nephew Thomas. All in all the perfect way to start my trip.

The temple buildings were very impressive, I would recommend starting from the south and working your way north, as this is the traditional processional route and the structures become more impressive as you go allowing you to finish at the magnificent Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests.

Whilst I enjoyed the buildings the thing I most enjoyed was strolling around the park people watching. It was great seeing the old men doing water calligraphy, mass participation Tai chi, practice sword fighting and line-dancing to Europop. However the thing that most captivated me was the people who congregated en-masse to sing. It happened throughout the park but my first encounter with it was when around 1,000 people all gathered to belt out something that sounded like Opera. The sensation was incredible as people all just walked up and started singing in harmony, I had the same tingling sensation I get when I walk into the home stand of my favourite football team. I just wished I knew what they were singing as I would have loved to join in. As soon as the song finished the crowd just dispersed, it was a rather magical experience.

I really enjoyed visiting the Temple of Heaven, the buildings were very nice however seeing Beijingers entertaining themselves on their morning strolls made this a perfect introduction to the city, and these early morning happenings were a real highlight of my trip.

[Site 7: Experience 8]