Sight Seeing in Beijing 3 – Temple of Heaven (天坛) and太极柔力球 (Taiji Soft-Strength Ball)

On the last day of my last stay in Beijing, my flight was ‘unfortunately’ very late, at 4pm. I did some short sight seeing, just like what I did on my first trip. This time, in between the 3 places that I wish to see: 雍和宫, 颐和园and 天坛 (Temple of Heaven), I chose Temple of Heaven.
Temple of Heaven is actually surrounded by a large garden, where it is also a leisure place for a lot of local folks, just like our Lake Garden or FRIM but with a lot more people. Hundreds of people doing different activities in groups, such as Tai Ji, Badminton, Social Dance, etc. What attracted me most is what is called 太极柔力球 (Taiji Soft-Strength Ball).


When I was searching for 七星石 (Seven Star Stone), I stumbled into a group of hundreds of people playing this Taiji Ball. The balls look like sticking to the rackets, won’t drop even the rackets turned 360 degree. I found it quite fun, trying to take some photos. But photos cannot bring out the fun of the sport, so I tried to take some short movies of a lady (with her permission). She then invited me to try out the sport – I found it so fun and finally bought a set to bring home (2 rackets, 2 balls, and a bag, cost CNY 65). It is a sport that you can play alone, in 2 persons, or even in a group of a few people made into a circle! I don’t know how to show a short movie on this site, otherwise I can show it here. Can anyone tell my how to do this? :)

When I played this back at home, everyone at the part looked at us in interest. It is a really fun sport. If I go back again, I will buy a few more sets.
Anyway, for the Temple of Heaven, it is just a few structures where the emperor prayed. Nothing much except nice architecture.