As you enter the China pavilion at Epcot, you truly feel as if you have been transported into another land. In front of you lies a half size replica of Beijing’s Temple of Heaven. If you time your entrance right, you will hear live flute, zither, or dulcimer music. You may see Chinese acrobats, usually children, performing outside the Temple of Heaven. Take a minute and look at the vegetation around you. In respect to Chinese culture, where age is respected, Disney gardeners have planted trees with corkscrew trunks or weeping branches. The rosebushes are a variety native to China.
Much of the architecture of the China pavilion pays tribute to Chinese culture, although those of us not as familiar with the traditions of this great land won’t readily see it. (more…)