When I left the hostel this morning I didn´t
really have any specific plans. I did some research before I left, and ended up
at the Yonghegong area. The Yonghegong
Lama Temple is located here so I decided to head inside. I must say, it´s a
beautiful temple, but since I´ve already visited the Summer Palace, Temple of
Heaven, and the Forbidden City, this temple wasn´t anything special in my
opinion. The Yonghegong (meaning palace
of harmony and peace) Lama Temple is the biggest Tibetan Buddhist temple in
Beijing and it was built in 1694. In each hall you will find many Buddha statues,
scrolled paintings and precious cultural artifacts. What I found most amazing
about this temple was the Statue of Maitreya, a 18-meter high Buddha carved out
of one grand piece of white sandalwood. It´s forbidden to take any photos in
most of the halls, which is quite sad, but I do understand why.
When I was done with the Lama Temple, I walked around the Yonghegong area, because according to my research, there is a popular hutong area nearby the temple. Hutong is a narrow street or alley associated with Chinese cities in the north and mostly in Beijing. Lines of traditional courtyard residences form the hutongs. The number of hutongs has dropped due to make way for new roads and buildings, and some areas are protected luckily. Today I visited Fangija Hutong, located nearby Yonghegong Lama Temple station, and Xiaoshibei Hutong (or Yanday Byway) located nearby the Shichahai Station. I could totally recommend the last hutong. There was many vintage shops, roofer cafes and restaurants, the vibe was just great. I didn´t find the Fangjia Hutong interesting or special. However, in the Yonghegong area you will find other hutongs aswell.
In between, I managed to visit the Olympic
Sports Center. This is the first attraction I´ve visited so far which was free
of charge! The area was huge, so I had a quick look at the “Bird’s Nest”, and the “Water Cube.” The 2008 Summer Olympics was
held here, and Beijing will host the 2022 Winter Olympics too.
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