I made another trip to the Temple of Heaven last weekend with Rahman, Rett, and Jason. This one was a little bit less chill than my last trip; it was as low as 25 degrees outside, half of us didn’t dress appropriately, and we all wanted to be finished before the sun went down and it got REALLY cold.

I took fewer pictures, but I like more of them, I think after three years of taking digital pictures I am finally getting over my photomania and am getting a higher percentage of good shots.

The Echo Wall was open this time; it was under construction for most of the fall. The structure itself was not as visually impressife as the Harvest Temple, but the Echo wall itself was pretty sweet. The chinese built this perfectly circular wall out of acoustic stones which can funnel a normal speaking voice from one side to the other. Two people twenty yards apart can have a normal conversation as if they are standing right beside each other. Of course, when unabashed tourists start shouting “Niii – Haaao!!!” at each other, it kinda ruins the experience for everyone.

On a lighter note, the gargoyle statue inspired a touristy-goofyness in us, the results of which are as follows:

It is not wise to feed or to tease the Chinese gargoyles; they might get angry

If you do have an angry gargoyle on your hands, don't back down.

"No Burning" is permitted within the temple grounds or...

You just might have an angry human on your hands, and he's more dangerous than the gargoyle.

: )

Still having fun over here,
-Nathan