Hee hee, I need to leave you with some reason to visit China don't I? I'll give you the info, but you'll need to dust off your camera and head to Beijing to see for yourself.
天坛 Tian Tan, Temple of Heaven
Ah Beijing! With bustling sidewalks and busy streets filling all your senses it's hard to imagine anything besides skyscrapers and apartment complexes fill this city. But don't lose heart; there are a few green sanctuaries to be found in the city centre. My personal favourite is the Temple of Heaven.
When you first enter the gates the site doesn't reveal its true self to you. Covering an area almost 5 times larger than the Forbidden City (2.73 square km) you'll find a park fit for an emperor. Just follow the smooth stone chariot road (properly called the 'Sacred Way').
Built over 600 years ago, the temple was originally intended to honor both Heaven and Earth. It was commissioned by same emperor who created the Forbidden City, Emperor YongLe of the Ming dynasty. However, it later became solely devoted to Heaven when Emperor JiaJing (also Ming dynasty) built temples to individually honor the earth, sun and moon.
The three main structures (Alter to Heaven, Imperial vault, and Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests) are aligned along the North-South axis, with other smaller buildings sit East and West following rules of Feng shui.
Let's start with the Alter to Heaven since it's the first thing you see entering through the South gate. Why South? Traditionally the emperor would always enter the Temple of Heaven from the Southern most gate (but if you really want to you can enter from the North gate as well).
1. The Alter of Heaven (圜丘坛 Yuan Qiu Tan)
Is an impressive circular mound rising 5 metres up from a square walled in area. The entire platform was constructed using white marble and, if you have time to count them, works on the number 9 (or 3). The number 9 was the obvious choice for the emperor as it is the highest, greatest, grandest single digit = just like the emperor (no he's not a digit, he's grand!). Don't believe me? Walk to the top of the alter and count the stones surrounding the centre circle. I'll be a monkey's uncle if it's not 9.
2. The Imperial Vault of Heaven (皇穹宇 Huang Qiong Yu) & The Echo Wall
The Echo Wall swirls its 193m self around the vault and stands 3.7m high - but that's not the impressive part. They don't call it 'Echo' for nothing. If you have a friend (or just like eavesdropping on random strangers) stand by one of the three 'echo stones'. You can hear a whisper from the opposite side of the wall. I've heard it myself, acoustical magic.
3. The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests (祈年殿)
The Hall has not one but three circular roofs stacked on top of it. And stands proudly on a marble podium. To reach the door of the Hall one walks up the three terraces supporting the Hall like a 6m high layer cake. Each layer is ornately decorated with carvings of clouds, phoenixes and dragons hold the Hall up above the earth.
The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests itself is 32m high (not counting the layer cake). Within it are 28 pillars (each one a single tree trunk), again numbers are important; the central four pillars symbolize the four seasons of the year. Around those are 12 pillars for the months of the year, and 12 circling them represent Chinese hours or Si Chens.
The Forest for the trees (the big details)
Besides enjoying being surrounded by half-a-century-old Cypress trees in Beijing (a unique experience in itself) try this scavenger hunt: how many circles and squares can you find within the walls of TianTan? Circles, semi-circles and squares are everywhere as they symbolize Heaven (circle) and Earth (square). Not seeing any? Have another look at the map of Temple of Heaven. Also, a subtle thing I didn't notice myself was the growing (or shrinking) walls. The Northern wall is higher than the Southern one, why? The Northern wall was meant to symbolize the heavens (hence the semi-circle) and the South .. you know.
And finally, why is the Temple of Heaven site so much larger than the Forbidden City? The emperors believed they were the Sons of Heaven and they couldn't possibly build their home larger than that of heavens - their maker.
I know this is a lot of info on the Temple of Heaven but it is not conclusive - there's more than just this! Come see for yourself why it was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1998.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Speaking of Chinese
I feel I should add to the previous blog (about the rest of the world not speaking enough Chinese, according to the Chinese government) below.
Many people want to know some phrases before they visit a country, others feel it's absolutely necessary. While some (like this writer) don't even bother to learn any before hopping on the plane. However, I've since learned from my mistake - you'll be greeted with more smiles if you just try to utter 'NiHao' than 'Excuse me, I'm looking for ...'.
It's not so hard as one might think. You'll hear people all over the world claim that Chinese or Czech or Thai or Russia.. etc is the hardest language to learn. Don't listen to negatives, think about your goal. Do you want to read Mao's little red book in it's native characters or be able to say numbers? Once you know what you're after it's not that hard to obtain.
Give yourself time, try not to (like me) save language lessons for the plane/train/drive over. Audio recordings are essential for learning spoken Chinese - especially if you haven't mastered pinyin pronunciation yet.
Tones you say? The number one problem English speakers have is learning tones. Don't get discouraged by that! Just listen to recordings of the phrases you wish to learn and repeat exactly the same as the speaker (I find it helps if the speaker/teacher is the same gender as the student). The bottom line is - it takes time to recognize and remember the tones for each character/word.
* A small note about audio recordings. Most use 'standard' Chinese or Peking/Beijing dialect - this is what students across China are taught in school. However, you'll find that in reality Mandarin can sound vastly different from Beijing to Shanghai to Fujian.. etc. Not to mention other languages such as Wu or Shanghai-ese (don't get me started)! If you can say what you want to say in Standard Chinese - you'll probably be understood, don't worry about that. My concern is that you understand the answer! Be warned that in some provinces L & N, s & sh sounds may not be as pronounced as you're used to. *
Should you learn Chinese characters? That's up to you, I find them interesting and love the lore behind how some characters evolved into their present shapes. But, really, how much reading are you planning on doing over your week in China? Besides washroom signs (male/female), what do YOU need/want to know?
And the number one reason I'm writing this blog is to tell you: learning Chinese is not costly. There are many helpful sites on learning spoken and written Chinese (many are free), and a wide range of ways to speak to Chinese people (language exchanges, Skype, QQ, MSN).
Once you are in China you will find it easier to learn and remember Chinese as you are immersed in it. So am I telling you to listen to Chinese for an hour a day? Yes, I mean no haha.. not unless you want to. I am saying that a handful of words will make locals feel their language is appreciated and possibly open some conversation, but it's not impossible to travel China on English alone.
Tip: Learn to say some of your favourite foods (rice, noodles, egg, fish, lamb, tomato) if you plan to visit restaurants off the beaten path. Outside of Beijing, Shanghai, HongKong; English menus are less common. I'm saying this because sometimes the pictures on menus (if you use the point-and-order method) are deceiving.
Chinese Language sites:
Nciku
Chinese Tools
Chinese Learner
Chinese Phrases
Chinese Characters:
Learn Chinese ez
Chinese Language Software:
WenLin
Many people want to know some phrases before they visit a country, others feel it's absolutely necessary. While some (like this writer) don't even bother to learn any before hopping on the plane. However, I've since learned from my mistake - you'll be greeted with more smiles if you just try to utter 'NiHao' than 'Excuse me, I'm looking for ...'.
It's not so hard as one might think. You'll hear people all over the world claim that Chinese or Czech or Thai or Russia.. etc is the hardest language to learn. Don't listen to negatives, think about your goal. Do you want to read Mao's little red book in it's native characters or be able to say numbers? Once you know what you're after it's not that hard to obtain.
Give yourself time, try not to (like me) save language lessons for the plane/train/drive over. Audio recordings are essential for learning spoken Chinese - especially if you haven't mastered pinyin pronunciation yet.
Tones you say? The number one problem English speakers have is learning tones. Don't get discouraged by that! Just listen to recordings of the phrases you wish to learn and repeat exactly the same as the speaker (I find it helps if the speaker/teacher is the same gender as the student). The bottom line is - it takes time to recognize and remember the tones for each character/word.
* A small note about audio recordings. Most use 'standard' Chinese or Peking/Beijing dialect - this is what students across China are taught in school. However, you'll find that in reality Mandarin can sound vastly different from Beijing to Shanghai to Fujian.. etc. Not to mention other languages such as Wu or Shanghai-ese (don't get me started)! If you can say what you want to say in Standard Chinese - you'll probably be understood, don't worry about that. My concern is that you understand the answer! Be warned that in some provinces L & N, s & sh sounds may not be as pronounced as you're used to. *
Should you learn Chinese characters? That's up to you, I find them interesting and love the lore behind how some characters evolved into their present shapes. But, really, how much reading are you planning on doing over your week in China? Besides washroom signs (male/female), what do YOU need/want to know?
And the number one reason I'm writing this blog is to tell you: learning Chinese is not costly. There are many helpful sites on learning spoken and written Chinese (many are free), and a wide range of ways to speak to Chinese people (language exchanges, Skype, QQ, MSN).
Once you are in China you will find it easier to learn and remember Chinese as you are immersed in it. So am I telling you to listen to Chinese for an hour a day? Yes, I mean no haha.. not unless you want to. I am saying that a handful of words will make locals feel their language is appreciated and possibly open some conversation, but it's not impossible to travel China on English alone.
Tip: Learn to say some of your favourite foods (rice, noodles, egg, fish, lamb, tomato) if you plan to visit restaurants off the beaten path. Outside of Beijing, Shanghai, HongKong; English menus are less common. I'm saying this because sometimes the pictures on menus (if you use the point-and-order method) are deceiving.
Chinese Language sites:
Nciku
Chinese Tools
Chinese Learner
Chinese Phrases
Chinese Characters:
Learn Chinese ez
Chinese Language Software:
WenLin
China to World: Too few of you speak Chinese!
I found this article amusing:
China worries too few foreigners learning Chinese.
It seems that 1.3 billion native speakers combined with an estimated 40 million learners around the world isn't enough for the Middle Kingdom.
"Though the desire to learn Chinese is very high, there is a lack of teachers and teaching materials," she added, referring specifically to the Confucius Institute.
This is somewhat ironic considering the Communist Party once condemned Confucius' teachings and tried to wipe them from the collective memory. Today, China endeavors to help foreigners understand China via the 'Confucius Institute'.
Or perhaps a better question is, what is soft power?
"What is soft power? The best soft power is to let people know you, understand you, love you." he said. "Less than one percent of U.S. students study Chinese. With a situation like that, it's impossible for China to raise its soft power."
To view to original article from Reuters:
< http://www.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idUSTRE52B1UW20090312 >
For further information on the Confucius Institute:
Confucius Institute Online
If you would like to learn some basic Chinese:
Nciku.com (an excellent dictionary but also has lessons which include pinyin and sound)
Read and Write (for the more serious student interested in the written language)
Survival Chinese (sound bytes, unfortunately only a female voice available).
WenLin (software that can be used as a dictionary, what's unique about this program is it shows how the characters evolved from ancient glyphs)
China worries too few foreigners learning Chinese.
It seems that 1.3 billion native speakers combined with an estimated 40 million learners around the world isn't enough for the Middle Kingdom.
"Though the desire to learn Chinese is very high, there is a lack of teachers and teaching materials," she added, referring specifically to the Confucius Institute.
This is somewhat ironic considering the Communist Party once condemned Confucius' teachings and tried to wipe them from the collective memory. Today, China endeavors to help foreigners understand China via the 'Confucius Institute'.
Or perhaps a better question is, what is soft power?
"What is soft power? The best soft power is to let people know you, understand you, love you." he said. "Less than one percent of U.S. students study Chinese. With a situation like that, it's impossible for China to raise its soft power."
To view to original article from Reuters:
< http://www.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idUSTRE52B1UW20090312 >
For further information on the Confucius Institute:
Confucius Institute Online
If you would like to learn some basic Chinese:
Nciku.com (an excellent dictionary but also has lessons which include pinyin and sound)
Read and Write (for the more serious student interested in the written language)
Survival Chinese (sound bytes, unfortunately only a female voice available).
WenLin (software that can be used as a dictionary, what's unique about this program is it shows how the characters evolved from ancient glyphs)
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