Beijing: Spring Outing in Ditan Park

In the bloomy spring season, it is time for walk out to nature and enjoy the colors of spring. Considering of the crowded people in Beihai Park and the Summer Palace, I chose Ditan Park.

Today’s Ditan park has been the synonymous of Beijing’s book market. Compared to the noisy and bustling book-market Ditan, I prefer a quieter environment. Lying in the center of Beijing, the ticket for entrance is only two yuan. It was spring, and the flowers began to blossom and the trees turned green. If you had enough time in your Beijing to Xian tour, why not go to Ditan park for a walk?

The most noisy place is the small square. We could hear the “bang bang” sound from a far distance. When walk closer, we saw dozens of African drum lovers gather there and present a performance. Some of them wore sloppy African-style costume, pounding drums and singing loudly. While in your Xian day tour, you will see groups of Qin Opera band perform by old men and women at the foot of the city wall.

Ditan(also named “Fangze Tan” or the Temple of the Earth). Being the second largest altar among Beijing’s five altars, it was originally built in the ninth year of Jia Jing reign in Ming Dynasty(1530 AD). It was served as a place where emperors of both the Ming and subsequent Qing dynasties could perform sacrifices to the gods for good harvests, auspicious weather and a stable nation.