Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Sceneries from Beijing Laoshan Mountain Bike Course (Part 4)

Continued with my last post to introduce the most beautiful yet most challenging bike course in the Olympic history, here is the introduction of the third, fourth and fifth stage for the Course:

Tiananmen Square

Nowadays the Tiananmen Square represents the heart of China’s capital Beijing. It spans an area of 50 hectares and is the biggest square worldwide. Most of the time Tiananmen Square is being associated with several happenings which had quite an enormous impact on China’s history. For example the demonstration on the 4th of May in 1919 when China lost its right over the German colonies in Shandong to the Japanese after the Second World War. Students and other intellectuals demonstrated against the result of the treaty of Versaille and demanded the democratization and wersternization of China.
Yonghegong Palace
Yonghegong is a famous lamasery located in the northeastern part of the old city of Beijing. It was a palatial residence built in 1694 by Qing Emperor Kangxi for his fourth son, Prince Yongzheng who later succeeded to the throne. This magnificent temple consists of five main buildings lying on the north-south axis, with annex halls standing on both sides. The temple is listed by the Chinese Government as one of the important historical monuments under special preservation.

Temple of Earth Park

The Temple of Earth, also named Ditan Park, near the North Second Ring Road in the northern part of Beijing city, is where emperors prayed to the earth for favorable weather and national prosperity. Built in 1530, it has square altars and walls in line with the ancient chinese concept of a square earth.

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