2009 Chinese New Year in Beijing - Temple of Heaven, Beijing Roast Duck for Lunch, Yashow Clothing Market and Imperial Meal Dinner

The Temple of Heaven, literally the Altar of Heaven ( 天坛) is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and situated in southeastern urban Beijing, in Xuanwu District. The complex was visited by the Emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties for annual ceremonies of prayer to Heaven for good harvest. The temple complex was constructed from 1406 to 1420 during the reign of the Yongle Emperor, who was also responsible for the construction of the Forbidden City in Beijing. The complex was extended and renamed Temple of Heaven during the reign of the Jiajing Emperor in the 16th century.

In ancient China, the Emperor of China was regarded as the Son of Heaven, who administered earthly matters on behalf of, and representing, heavenly authority. To be seen to be showing respect to the source of his authority, in the form of sacrifices to heaven, was extremely important. The temple was built for these ceremonies, mostly comprising prayers for good harvests.

Beijing Roast Duck:

One of my favourite Beijing food is definitely the Peking duck at the Hepingmen Quanjude Roast Duck restaurant (14 Qianmen Xidajie) for its excellent and yummy Peking duck. I seldom eat duck meat in Singapore as i find its meat too oily but the Peking Duck meat is so tender and the skin is so crispy. Its other side dishes like the crispy chicken were also super delicious and this meal is really the best and my most favourite meal throughout our visit of Beijing!!

Super delicious crispy fried chicken, definitely nicer than the popcorn chicken from KFC hehe...

Shopping at Yashow Clothing Market:

This is an interesting 4-storey building shopping area for cheap buys and is a paradise for bargain hunters in Beijing. It offers a wide selection of goods, including fake luxury items but you would have to bargain hard to get good and cheap buys. I learnt from some members of our tour group on the art of getting super great bargain!!! The trick to getting a great bargain is to state your price at 40-50% below the initial offer. A few of us also shopped together as it was easier to bargain in groups and we also can pool our buys together to get better discounts.

Stand firm on your offer and you can always try your luck at the next shop as there are alot of shops there selling similiar items. Normally the sales staff would be very desperate for sales and cling on to you and mostly you can purchase the stuff for the price you asked for if you are firm. It was an interesting experience bargaining initially but it gets tiring after awhile and also we met a few pissed off sales staff who started showing us black faces and were quite rude when they realised that we were not going to buy unless they lower their prices further. I was too busy buying and bargaining that i did not realise i had forgotten to take any pictures inside hehe...i ended up buying a nice pair of boots for only S$20, a bag and a wallet :>

Imperial Meal:

For dinner we had the imperial meal that "Empress Dowager Cixi supposedly had in the past". I was looking forward to trying out the dishes which looked yummy but the taste was not that great although i do appreciate the grand design of the dinning place.