We met up with two LDS Charities volunteer couples--the Ashtons and the Sheffields--who are based in Beijing. They work on various projects with Chinese NGOs to do various humanitarian projects in China. We see them once a week, but wanted to spend more time with them, so we met up to tour the famous Bell Tower and Drum Tower in the heart of Beijing. The tower square is located directly north, in a straight line from the Forbidden City, and at one time was included within the Forbidden City. They were built in 1272 AD, so their relatively "recent" creations.
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| Drum Tower, used to tell time in ancient times. |
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| Bell Tower, used to tell time in ancient times. |
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| Drums at top of drum tower |
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| Various time-keeping devices--many of them based on the burning of incense sticks. |
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| Time-keeping devices. |
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| More time-keeping devices. |
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| More time-keeping devices. |
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| Time-keeping by using water. As the water flows from one tank to the other, and finally into a barrel, it raises a stick on which is found the markings to keep time. |
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| Laraine with Ted Ashton (maroon jacket), Terry Sheffield and Rick Sheffield (blue sweatshirt) |
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| Across the courtyard at the bell tower, this caption is found. |
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| The bell is struck by a giant wooden "fish" |
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