Day 258- Drum and Bell Towers

On Friday, I quickly escaped from school at the end of the work day,
In my courtyard, all of the nainai were out with their shengda ying er.
It was a glorious clean air, blue sky day again in Beijing, and in the
low 80's.  I hurriedly went home, threw off my dress, grabbed some
shorts, tank top and flip flops, my transport card, and headed back out.

I decided to check another place in Beijing off my list.  I was not far
from the Drum and Bell Towers last evening when I was with the girls.
So, I took the 1 to the 2 to the 8 this time and got off at Shichahai.
How about this fancy McDonald's in a hutong?!
I was entering Linglang hutong, which is 144 meters long
and dates back to the early 1400's- hard to believe.
                                      

I had to snap a pic of this Indian restaurant
so that I can find it again.  Len will be here
next week, and we love trying new places :)
I saw hummus on their billboard, and I
am hoping I can order some to go.

I found the Bell Tower- but it had closed 30
minutes before I got there.  Dang it. Both of the
towers are at the northern end of Di'anmenwai
Dajie, which was the border of the city in
the Ming Dynasty under Emperor Yongle.

I snagged a pic of the 83 ton bell off Google images, since I didn't get to go up.
During the time of Emperor Yongle, the day officially began at 7am, when
the bell was rung.  It was said that it could be heard 20 km (12 miles) away.

Across the plaza is the Drum Tower.

Though I missed going inside this tower, too,
the building looked beautiful in the early
evening sunset. Only one of the original 24
drums remains inside.  Still, it would be nice to
climb the steps to the top for a view of the city :)

Again, I snagged this off of Google images, even though
the drums now inside the Tower are replicas.  The story of
the Tower's function is an interesting one.  Back during Yongle's
reign, the 24 drums were struck 13 times each evening at 7pm
to signal the start of the night hours and also the closing of
the city gates.  The drums were struck again every two hours
until 5am.  By that hour, the officials who were called to be
present at the imperial morning audience were supposed to have
taken up their kneeling positions in front of the alter of the Hall
of Supreme Harmony.  Failure to do so brought heavy penalties
and punishments.  So much for supreme harmony :/

  

As I stepped back out into the streets of Beijing,
I was struck by the hustle and bustle of cars,
taxis, buses, scooters, bicycles, and tuk-tuks.
Inside the plaza, I had been transformed to
a much earlier time in Beijing.  Back on the
street, my senses were assaulted once again.
As I pondered that thought a moment longer
I realized it is the constant yin-yang of ancient
China and modern China that I have come to love.

 G'nite, y'all!