Temple of Heaven

The Temple of Heaven is the place where the emperor would come to offer prayers on official occasions, such as seasonal prayers for the harvests. There was a special path that only he was allowed to use, and he would stand on a special stone tablet, and the Chinese believed he spoke directly with God, and that he was God's son. Hugo is seen standing on it. They believed that China was Middle Earth, and this stone tablet represented the centre of the earth.

The number nine was very significant, as it is the highest single digit that a person can count to, so the number nine is evident everywhere. Around the tablet at the centre of the earth, there are nine stones, then eighteen, etc, to nine concentric circles. There are nines everywhere! They were also everywhere at the Summer Palace.

We had a little problem with a man following us and taking pictures of the children. He stopped when David turned around and took a photo of him.