During my week in Beijing there was only a single day of clear blue sky the entire time I was there, the rest of the time the sky was sadly thick with pollution. Luckily that day fell somewhat appropriately on the same as my visit to Beijing’s Ancient Observatory located in the southeast of Beijing next to Jianguomen subway station. As it was a weekday and a little off the normal tourist trail I practically had the whole place to myself and was able to enjoy a quiet hour at this unassuming yet fascinating piece of Beijing’s history.
The pretelescopic observatory was built in the Ming Dynasty in 1442 and is one of the oldest in the world. The central attraction of the small museum are the huge bronze astronomical instruments situated on the top of the ten-meter tall brick platform. With exotic sounding names such as “celestil globe” and “equatorial armilla” it is amazing to think that the ancient Chinese began to unlock the mysteries of the stars here using only these instruments and the naked eye to take precise measurements of their movements.
Aside from being functional object the instruments are also aesthetically beautiful, covered in ornate carvings, apparently reflecting both the influence of Oriental craftsmanship and European Renaissance understanding of physics. The museum also have some interesting displays on the role of astronomy throughout China’s history.
We interrupt our usual coverage to bring you one of most unique short animated films I’ve seen in a long time from some very creative folks in Japan (all made without a single drop of CG):
Using stop-motion animation and time-lapse photography techniques the film was shot in Tokyo over a period of 10 nights, using 77 people, different coloured flashlights, and a digital camera with a long exposure to capture over 16,000 frames (behind the scenes). It’s no small feat for a semi-amateur production and the end result certainly has the wow factor.
A group in Germany called Lichtfaktor do something similar for a living and have made some seriously cool tv ads which you can find on their website. It would appear to becoming a bit of a fringe art form with some calling it “light writing” or “light graffiti” but a whole lot less destructive than its spray-on counterpart (interview)!
You’ve got to wonder when Sony will commission someone like this to do a Braviaadvert for them - it certainly has all the right visual elements to go with their “colour like no other” campaign.
Painting with light is something which anyone can try fairly easily themselves, still images being the simplest. You’ll need a tripod and a camera which can do exposures of 10-30 seconds at around iso100 with as small an aperture as possible (plus a whole lot of practice and patience!).
Having walked along the central axis of Beijing for nearly 7 hours I reached what must be one if the most relaxing and tranquil places in the city; the Confucian Temple, devoted to the memory of Confucius and philosophers of Confucianism (nearby the Lama Temple). Away from the hordes of mindless American tourists this is like stepping into another world. All that can be heard is the general murmur of distant chatter and magpies singing in the trees. On a warm spring afternoon I can think of no nicer place to rest ones legs and while away a few hours which is exactly what I’m doing while typing this on my iPhone.
In an age when the world was still full of mystery (the temple was built in 1302) buildings like this were in some respects living fantasy, enhancing the religious/philosophical underpinnings of their existence. We might see a modern equivalent as the CG films of today which take thousands of man hours to construct fantasy realities which transport us out of their ordinary to the extraordinary. Even though we may consider ourselves to have evolved from this time places like this still hold an other-worldly feeling.
One of the most interesting aspects of the Confucian Temple are the 198 stone tablets found on each side of the first courtyard, containing 51,624 names of Jinshi scholars who passed the highest imperial examinations, who then went on to become civil servants.
The plan on my second day in Chuncheon was to visit a waterfall and then get a ferry to an inland island. This was all going to plan until we got off at the wrong train station and ended up stranded in the middle of nowhere which also happened to be devoid of any type of public transport. Walking back was definitely out of the question and so against my better instincts it was time to ask for help. In the end a pair of exotic peaches saved the day when we used them as a bribe to hitch a lift to the nearest town. Luckily the driver wasn’t a crazed psychopath!
A bus trip and a hike up a snow laden trail later we eventually made it to Gugok Waterfall (구곡폭포) which at this time of year was completely frozen and is apparently a popular place for intrepid climbers although there weren’t any there that day.
Away from the ice and snow Nami Island (남이섬) was a very different proposition. The island, which sits in the middle of Cheongpyung Lake, is about 6 kilometers end-to-end so is easily walked around and is accessible by ferry. Famous for its beautiful tree lined roads, the island and the surrounding area is well known for the tv drama Winter Sonata which was filmed there in 2002 attracting many fans on pilgrimage.
After a pleasant couple of hours here it was time for some late lunch and in true Korean style Bulgogi (technically Sam-gyeop sal or 삼겹살 to be precise) was the order of the day, cooked on the back of a metal turtle no less! If you don’t like spicy food then going to Korea is probably a bad idea as about every single dish I’ve ever had there has been hot to some degree (which I love).
So ended my excursion to Chuncheon and it was time to head back to Seoul for my last night in South Korea before my trip to Beijing the following day.
After arriving on the northern shore of Lake Soyang we walked through a ramshackle village in semi-hibernation (presumably closed for the winter season) and followed the winding track up the mountain side beside a small stream through a forest of pines and maples. The mountain had a somewhat eery and desolate feeling to it, probably due to the depressing weather, but after about 30 minutes of walking we reached our destination - Cheongpyeongsa Temple.
Built in the Goryeo Dynasty (10th century) the temple is one of the most popular in the country having survived the ravages of the Korean War and we were lucky to have the place almost to ourselves - all the monks must have been off meditating somewhere! Wandering amongst the snow covered pavilions you could almost picture what this place must have been like before it became a tourist attraction.
I particularly liked the brightly coloured lanterns hanging from the ceiling near the entrance which gently swayed in the silent breeze in an almost ghostly fashion. As with most temples I am always amazed by the intense attention to detail that every aspect of the craftsmanship exudes, something which is sadly lost in most modern architecture. There isn’t a huge amount more to say about the temple (unless you have an interest in Buddhism) so I’ll let the pictures do the rest of the talking…
You might have thought that I’d be bored of temples after the number I’ve seen over the past few years but they still hold a strong mystical quality which always fascinates me and you can be sure there are a few left in this episode
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