China in Epcot at Walt Disney World
The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, found in China in Epcot’s World Showcase at Walt Disney World, is a colorful recreation of one of the famous temples at the Temple of Heaven complex in China.
Whenever we are in World Showcase at Epcot, I can’t resist getting a few photos of the Hall of Prayer in China. Maybe because it is so colorful, with the bright reds and deep blues attracting my eye. Maybe it is the symmetrical round structure with decreasing levels as it goes up. Maybe it is how the whole building fits in with its surroundings, such as in this view with the adjacent red building on the left and the green tree on the right. For whatever reason, I like it.
On our visit this summer to Epcot, we saw all of the World Showcase attractions, including the movies in China, Canada, and France, along with the boat ride in Mexico (little knowing we would be visiting the real Mexico a month later), and of course the American Adventure. As is our custom, we talk about all that we saw when we are in the car on the way home. And we decided that the presentation that most made us want to visit the country represented was China.
The CircleVision movie shows that there is so much in China to see, compressing lots and lots of history and lots and lots of geography into one short film presentation. Of course, it would be impossible to see it all in one visit. But it would still be fun to try. For whatever reason, the Great Wall has always been one of those things that I would love to see sometime in my life. So maybe it was actually that we already wanted to visit China more than Canada or France, and the movie just brought that desire back up.
Our church supports a group that works in China to teach English using the Bible. Each year, a man from the group comes around asking for people who are interested in moving to China for a year to teach. That is always tempting, but it always seems that our roots here are pretty deep right now. There would be lots to take care of here (I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t let us take the horses with us), not to mention what we would do about Jaylin and school for a year. So now is not the time. Maybe one of these days. Maybe.
Just one more reminder that the world is full of interesting places to explore.
Listen to advice and accept discipline, and at the end you will be counted among the wise. Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails. - Proverbs 19:20-21
About the Photo
Another of the many fisheye photos that I took while we were at Epcot that day, but I just love the ultra wide angle. Hard to get the whole Hall of Prayer in one shot from up close otherwise. And while the distant views of the Hall of Prayer are nice, too, I like this more intimate view.
As always, there was a good bit of processing between the shutter click and the post you see here. I wanted to make sure to bring out the lovely blue sky, as it provides a nice background for the Hall of Prayer. And I also wanted to make sure the colors on the buildings looked good, too. Here is the before-and-after comparison:
Photo: A single Raw exposure, processed in Photoshop. Read more about photography tips, photo software, camera gear, and more at Steve’s Photography Tips.
Camera: Olympus OM-D E-M10
Lens: Rokinon 7.5mm f/3.5 Fisheye Lens
Date: June 9, 2016
Location: Epcot, Walt Disney World, Florida
