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| One of the two famous towers of Beijing (鼓楼 Drum Tower) |
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| The other tower (钟楼 Bell Tower) |
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| View of the hutongs (historic alleyways where the affluent used to live) from the tower |
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| 烟袋斜街 |
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| 后海 (lake nestled among the hutongs, turns into quite the bar scene at night) |
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| Entering Temple of Heaven Park, more worth visiting than the Forbidden City in my opinion |
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| Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests (also called the Temple of Heaven) |
At the Temple of Heaven Park I saw a lot of couples taking wedding photos. Some brides wear red (an auspicious color in China), and some wear white (due to the growing Western influence). There's two ceremonies anyway, an official registration with the government at the marriage office where you receive marriage certificates and an actual wedding banquet involving guests. When China's population was expected to grow exponentially after the Reform and Opening, the government began encouraging late marriage and late childbirth. In China's typical paternalist style, the 1980 marriage law still forbids men younger than 22 and women younger than 20 from marrying. However, the dynamics of the Chinese population are changing. No longer at risk for uncontrollable growth, China's now preoccupied with an aging population characterized by a huge amount of older Chinese who don't have enough children or social security to support themselves. Just this year, the National's People's Congress has allowed discussion concerning changing the marriage law, just as the one-child Policy has also been loosed.
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| Infinite Corridor |
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| Imperial Vault of Heaven |
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| Round Altar |
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| With a friend from Beijing Language and Culture University |
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