【Temple of Heaven】
Wang Luxi was exhilarated.
The next day at dawn, she woke up earlier than her alarm, having slept only a few hours in total.
The hotel arranged by the travel agency had a great location. From a distance, she could see the China Zun Tower and one sharp corner of the CCTV Headquarters “Big Pants” building.
Wang Luxi pulled back the curtain a crack, and through that gap, she watched the morning sunlight gradually transform from hazy to clear, gently falling on that sharp corner, like polishing jewelry and embedding it with gemstones. The reflected light was dazzling, yet captivating.
She was a bit entranced.
At eighteen, her eyes were focused forward, with nothing to look back on, nothing to regret. She was perpetually full of spirit.
Wang Luxi gazed at the scenery, imagining her future four years of study and life in Beijing.
Behind her, someone was getting up, rustling about.
The accommodation standard was two people per room. A single room required a price increase, quite expensive, so Wang Luxi hadn’t splurged. Fortunately, the elderly woman sharing her standard room was very kind, also traveling alone. After chatting briefly, they got along well. The woman looked at her like she was her own child and asked Wang Luxi why she was up so early.
“Excited, couldn’t sleep,” Wang Luxi smiled, showing her neat white teeth and two obvious dimples.
“Young people these days rarely join tour groups when traveling, right? My daughter booked this for me.”
Wang Luxi explained that she joined a tour because it was convenient. She didn’t have to worry about accommodation or meals, and many attractions required explanations—she feared she wouldn’t understand if visiting alone. Most importantly, she had calculated in advance that for a solo traveler, joining a tour was cheaper and safer.
“What a capable young lady,” the elderly woman gave her a thumbs up.
–
During the peak summer season, tickets to Beijing’s attractions were hard to secure, so travel agencies flexibly adjusted their itineraries. The original plan for the first day was the Forbidden City, but it had been pushed back and replaced with the Temple of Heaven.
Wang Luxi didn’t mind; anywhere was fine with her.
She finished breakfast at the fastest speed, even wrapping a boiled egg in a plastic bag and stuffing it in the side pocket of her backpack before being the first to board the bus.
…
The Temple of Heaven was a site for ancient sacrificial ceremonies, and also the largest sacrificial architectural complex still standing in China. The grandeur was evident from the names of its structures: Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, Circular Mound Altar, Imperial Vault of Heaven. Wang Luxi maneuvered through the dense crowds of tourists, pausing at various information boards.
In the center of the Imperial Vault of Heaven stood a tablet for sacrificial rituals, inscribed with “Supreme Deity of Heaven,” where prayers were offered for favorable weather, good harvests, and peace. This made Wang Luxi reflect that being an emperor wasn’t easy—on holidays, they had to get up before dawn to perform sacrifices, regardless of winter or summer.
She adjusted the sun hat on her head, tightening the strap under her chin. Fully equipped against the sun, she walked to a distant spot to find a good angle for a selfie. Just then, she overheard a tour guide’s explanation that the Temple of Heaven’s construction principle aligned with the ancient Chinese belief that “Heaven is round, Earth is square,” a design meant to create a “connection” with Heaven and Earth.
This reflected ancient Chinese people’s view of the cosmos.
Wang Luxi glanced in that direction.
Except for a few “scattered” tourists like her who only cared about taking photos and not listening to explanations, the rest of the group still surrounded the tour guide, like a stable ring of stars.
Squinting her eyes, she could see the tall, slender figure of the man, and a glimpse of his white shirt corner.
–
That man wasn’t a scammer; he was indeed her tour guide.
Last night, after persistently calling for a full twenty minutes, making countless calls, she finally reached the travel agency. After a brief negotiation, she got into his car.
“Good morning, I’m today’s tour guide. My name is Yuan Bei, ‘Bei’ as in ‘north’.”
That’s how he introduced himself this morning, economical with words, exactly like last night.
The scenic area was extremely crowded, both tour groups and individual visitors.
Wang Luxi maintained high concentration, her gaze navigating countless turns through the crowds, stubbornly fixing on Yuan Bei.
He seemed completely unbothered by the sun.
In contrast to other tour guides with their hats, cooling sleeves, and neck fans, Yuan Bei was excessively simple—still in his loose knee-length cargo pants and white T-shirt, with basic white sneakers that were immaculately clean.
Wang Luxi recalled the pain of living in a boarding school during high school.
Some seemingly simple tasks only revealed their difficulty once attempted—like maintaining a skincare routine and sun protection while rushing to an 8 AM class, washing a white shirt with oil stains, or cleaning a pair of white shoes. They took time.
Wang Luxi reasoned that Yuan Bei must be someone who valued cleanliness and was willing to spend time and effort on small things.
A handsome guy at that.
That’s what she thought for now.
However, no one is perfect; there’s always a flaw. Unfortunately, this handsome guy only had a good appearance—his explanations were terrible, as if he wasn’t familiar with the business, or as if he hadn’t woken up yet.
After touring all the attractions, there was a short break before departure. The crowd dispersed, and Wang Luxi walked to the east gate of the Temple of Heaven Park, sitting on a bench to call her friend: “Such bad luck, I got an unprofessional tour guide. He seems like a novice or a temp, stumbling through his explanations, constantly checking his phone. I bet he didn’t memorize his script properly.”
Friend: “What will you do? Complain?”
“I thought about complaining, but never mind. He said he’s only leading for one day, and they’ll switch tomorrow,” Wang Luxi paused, then suddenly laughed, “I’ll tell you, he’s not all bad. At least he’s easy on the eyes—really handsome.”
Her friend seemed to say something in response, but it was drowned out by a commotion. Most tour guides had microphones pinned to their chests, and someone nearby was calling loudly: “Gather over here!”
Wang Luxi instinctively started to follow, took a few steps then stopped.
She was mistaken; it wasn’t her group.
Looking back at her phone, her friend had already hung up.
She returned to the bench. Digging around the edge of her backpack, she pulled out the boiled egg she’d packed this morning. It was squashed but still edible, though swallowing the yolk whole made her choke and hiccup.
She seemed to have half a bottle of mineral water in her bag.
She reached in to search for it, but before she could find the bottom, she heard a crack, followed by a fizzy sound—the distinctive noise of carbonated bubbles bursting.
She turned towards the sound.
Yuan Bei was standing right behind her, one step away.
…Or perhaps even closer.
He walked silently.
Wang Luxi noticed a slight gleam of sweat on his forehead in the direct sunlight. On fair-skinned people, sweat was more noticeable, glistening like light.
He held two cans of cola, one in each hand. He opened one in front of her. Condensation droplets rolled down the metal can to his fingers, then to his clean, neat fingernails.
“Want one?”
He nodded at her.
His voice wasn’t loud; the small microphone seemed to have run out of battery.
Wang Luxi certainly didn’t dare accept.
Her gaze wandered, finally settling on Yuan Bei’s face: “I’m good now.”
Yuan Bei: “What’s good?”
“I’m not hiccupping anymore.” She wrapped the eggshell fragments in the plastic bag, clutching it in her hand.
“Are you sure?” Yuan Bei remained motionless, his hand still holding out the cola: “After saying so much, aren’t you thirsty?”
“…” Wang Luxi momentarily froze.
She couldn’t remember what she had just been saying, nor did she know when Yuan Bei had started standing behind her. Her brain seemed to have suddenly switched to energy-saving mode, operating on a single thread. Faced with this handsome face, she even forgot that she was in the right—he had been eavesdropping, the sneaky thief.
This thief was staring at her.
Wang Luxi drew upon years of reading romance novels to try to describe him in her mind: his eyes were phoenix-shaped, but slightly elongated, diluting any frivolousness, adding a touch of coolness. With his habitually slightly drooping eyelids, he easily appeared languid.
She returned his direct gaze with equal persistence.
For a long time.
A very long time.
Finally, that languid gaze moved away from her.
“You…” Wang Luxi wanted to ask what he had heard, and also wanted to accept the cola, but Yuan Bei was quicker, already withdrawing his hand. He enjoyed both colas himself, and sat down beside her without hesitation.
The bench was quite spacious, with an invisible boundary between them.
Wang Luxi’s words caught in her throat; she could only silently take out the remaining half bottle of mineral water from her bag and sip it in small gulps.
–
“Are you a professional tour guide?”
They still had time before the gathering, and Wang Luxi couldn’t stand the awkward atmosphere, feeling the need to chat about something.
“No,” Yuan Bei said.
He yawned, propping his elbow on his knee while looking to one side, showing signs of fatigue.
“Are you very tired?”
“A bit.”
“You didn’t sleep well either?”
“Your guess.”
Yuan Bei thought this girl probably didn’t have a good memory. Last night when he dropped her at the hotel, it was already past midnight.
He hadn’t just slept poorly; he hadn’t slept at all. His biological clock was already disrupted, and by the time he got home, showered, scooped cat litter, and fed the cats, he was finally getting sleepy as the sky was lighting up.
Wang Luxi was completely unaware.
She continued her questioning: “You’re not a professional guide? What do you do then? Do you have a tour guide license? You’re not just borrowing someone else’s credentials, are you?”
Yuan Bei turned to look at her: “Interrogating me?”
“No, no,” Wang Luxi quickly waved her hand, “Just curious. You seem… a bit rusty.”
Yuan Bei laughed inwardly; this roundabout criticism stung even more than direct words.
“A friend asked me to help out. Like I said, tomorrow you’ll get a professional guide.”
“Oh.” Wang Luxi paused briefly, then repeated, “But what do you do normally?”
Yuan Bei still didn’t answer.
Instead, he asked: “Just finished the college entrance exam?”
Wang Luxi nodded: “Yes! I just got my acceptance letter. I’m coming to Beijing for university! Registration isn’t until late August, but I was too bored at home, so I wanted to come play. A month early should be enough time to see a lot of places!”
This time Yuan Bei laughed out loud, just once, very lightly.
The reason was unknown, and Wang Luxi couldn’t quite figure it out yet.
After he finished laughing, he asked again: “University in Beijing? Which one?”
Wang Luxi named a university located in Wudaokou, an area densely packed with schools.
“Oh.” Yuan Bei added, “Then we’re schoolmates. I’m… several years ahead of you.”
“What?! Really?” Wang Luxi sprang up from the bench.
Startling Yuan Bei: “What are you doing? What’s wrong?”
“What a coincidence!” Wang Luxi genuinely felt it was miraculous. A spontaneous trip, a chance encounter with a tour guide, and yet they had this connection. She really wanted to shake Yuan Bei’s hand. “Hello, senior!”
Quite literally, the word “senior” gave Yuan Bei goosebumps. This title seemed like something he hadn’t heard since graduation.
“Don’t call me that,” he said, “I…”
“I know, Yuan Bei, ‘Bei’ as in ‘north’,” Wang Luxi’s mood suddenly became infinitely better. She sat back down, this time closer to him. “I told you, this place, Beijing, is magical!”
What’s so magical?
Yuan Bei, born and raised here, having studied, lived, and worked here, day after day, year after year, hadn’t felt anything magical about it.
“Are you traveling alone?” he asked.
“Huh?”
“Traveling alone?”
“Yes, I originally planned to come with my friend, but she stood me up and went abroad… I still wanted to explore domestically first. I prefer places with more historical depth, like ancient buildings—Beijing, Nanjing, Luoyang, and Xi’an… Last summer I toured Xi’an with my mom. Oh, by the way, this is my first solo trip. Yesterday, my mom said…”
…Blabbing on and on.
Yuan Bei updated his first impression of Wang Luxi—this girl’s safety awareness wasn’t that strong after all. She was guileless and a chatterbox, like a singer: once given a starting note, as long as you didn’t interrupt, she would continue flowing, with high-spirited melody and enthusiastic emotion.
She was already talking about how much money she brought for this trip.
Yuan Bei tapped the can, finding an appropriate moment to interrupt her: “What were you taking pictures of just now?”
“Oh, let me show you.”
Wang Luxi’s photography equipment wasn’t professional. Besides her phone, she had only a light blue Polaroid camera, which looked like a small toy in her hand.
She showed him the photos she had just taken.
Since many were upside-down selfies, her framing was quite casual. Some showed only one eye, others just her chin and smiling rows of teeth. Behind her were glimpses of the pristine stones of the Danbi Bridge, or the blue tiles on the eaves of the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, or the round dome’s peak.
The sunlight was beautiful, seemingly casting a golden glow on the eaves.
Before Yuan Bei could comment, Wang Luxi’s phone screen happened to tilt towards him.
“This is me,” she pointed to the Polaroid in Yuan Bei’s hand.
Then she pointed to her phone screen: “This is also me.”
Unlike the fresh Polaroid, the photo on her phone screen was full of noise, clearly aged, with a vintage quality and blurry grain that seemed covered in a layer of sunset. In the sunset, a little girl in sandals and a white dress held a colorful pinwheel, looking unhappy.
Wang Luxi explained that this was a photo from her first visit to Beijing as a child. She had accompanied her parents on a business trip, with some sightseeing on the side, also at the Temple of Heaven, with equally crowded tourists, the same Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, the same background. The photo captured her throwing a tantrum because she was eager to eat Peking duck.
Counting back, it was at least over a decade ago.
She had just retraced her steps through these photo memories, wondering what had changed, only to find that those scenic spots and buildings remained exactly the same compared to many years ago.
The only changes seemed to be the photography equipment and the people.
“Isn’t that magical?” she said.
This was the second time Wang Luxi had used the word “magical,” and again, she received no response.
Yuan Bei just took her phone and enlarged the old photo for a closer look.
After a long silence, he finally returned the phone.
…
“Have you seen the trees over there?” Yuan Bei yawned again.
“What trees?”
“Do you not pay attention in school either? Did you think the teacher wasn’t professional, so you didn’t listen to their class?”
“…”
This guy sure held grudges. Wang Luxi thought.
Following his nodding direction, she looked over to a grove of trees she had just passed by without stopping.
There stood ancient trees, mainly cypresses and pines.
The primary function of the Temple of Heaven was for sacrificial ceremonies, so many Chinese junipers and Chinese arborvitae were planted around it, symbolizing reverence for Heaven and also representing longevity and balance. In denser areas, they formed a canopy, each tree protected by a circular fence.
“Oh, I forgot, I need to go see them.”
Wang Luxi suddenly stood up.
Only…
She looked at Yuan Bei.
“You still have fifteen minutes.” Yuan Bei drank his cola, looking in another direction, seemingly absentminded. “Go quickly and come back quickly.”
“Do you want to come along?”
“Too tired. Go enjoy yourself.”
“Great!”
Wang Luxi wore her backpack facing forward on her chest and headed towards the grove, running and reflecting that something seemed off—during their brief chat, she had given a complete and detailed self-introduction, but none of the questions she asked about him had been answered.
She felt a bit annoyed, stopped her steps, and looked back, only to find that Yuan Bei had also risen.
But he hadn’t left.
He had simply bent down to pick up the mineral water bottle and plastic bag she had left on the bench, balled them up, and tossed them into a garbage bin a few steps away. Then he sat back on the bench, legs stretched out, arms spread on the backrest, head tilted back.
Sunbathing like an old man.
The sunlight mercilessly spread across his almost translucent face.
He had even closed his eyes.
Wang Luxi couldn’t understand how someone could be so unafraid of the sun.
She instinctively looked up, wanting to glimpse the sun herself, but the layered tree leaves above her filtered out most of the intense light, creating what seemed like a breathing 3D oil painting.
Each tree trunk here had an “ID card” hanging on it, showing its age. Even the youngest was several hundred years old.
Wang Luxi followed tourists along the stone path between the trees, reading each card as she went, occasionally following other tourists’ example by reaching out her hand. Online guides had mentioned that ancient trees have vibrant life force, and if you hold your hand near the trunk, you can feel a subtle coolness.
She didn’t feel anything, just thought the dense shade was quite beautiful.
As her mind wandered, she heard a shrill cry from above.
At first, she thought it was a bird, but only after other tourists exclaimed did Wang Luxi realize it was an agile squirrel. After making eye contact with her, it jumped from one tree to another, then to a farther one, before disappearing from sight.
Wang Luxi quickly raised her Polaroid, but it was too late.
…The lens slowly panned down.
Until Yuan Bei appeared in the frame.
He was still sitting on that bench.
In the distance, under the sun, behind the interplay of trees, amidst the hurried comings and goings of tourists.
Taking advantage of this frozen moment, Wang Luxi pressed the shutter.
