Every time I visited The Temple of Heaven(Tian Tan in Chinese), I found that most of tourists here are foreigner.
Maybe they have more interesting in this magic construction than emperor’s palace, Just like me.

The Temple of Heaven

The Temple of Heaven was built to offer sacrifice to Heaven during the Ming Dynasty . As Chinese emperors called themselves ‘The Son of Heaven’ ,their own dwelling,’The Forbidden City’ had to be smaller than this dwelling for Heaven.

The Temple of Heaven is the largest architectural group for sacrifice Heaven in the world. In 1961, it was listed by the State Council as “one of the key monuments under the state protection”. In 1998, it was recognized as the UNESCO World Heritage Site.

What to see:

The Circular Altar (Yuan Qiu Tan)
During the Ming and Qing Dynasties (1368 A.D. – 1911 A.D.), the emperors would offer sacrifice to Heaven on the day of the Winter Solstice every year. This ceremony was taken at The Circular Altar to thank Heaven and hope everything good in the future.

The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest(Qi Nian Dian)
The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest is a big palace with 28 huge posts inside. The four posts along the inner circle represent four seasons-spring, summer, autumn and winter; the 12 posts along the middle circle represent the 12 months; and 12 posts along the outer circle represent 12 Shichen (Shichen is a means of counting time in ancient China. One Shichen equaled two hours and a whole day was divided into 12 Shichens). The roof is covered with black, yellow and green colored glaze representing the heavens, the earth and everything on earth.

Imperial Vault of Heaven(Huang Qiong Yu)
This structure is like that of Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest, It’s a place used to place memorial tablets of Gods.

Vermilion Steps Bridge (Dan Bi Qiao)
The Vermilion Steps Bridge connects the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest and the Imperial Vault of Heaven. The south end of the Bridge is lower than its north end. The emperors in the past believed that they could go to heaven through this Bridge, which is why this bridge is also called Sacred Way.

Echo Stones
Three Echo Stones is outside of the gate of the Imperial Vault of Heaven. If you speak facing the Vault while standing on the first stone, you will hear one echo; standing on the second and then the third stone, you will hear two and three echoes respectively.

Echo Wall
The Echo Wall encloses the Imperial Vault of Heaven. If you and your friend stand at the east and the west roots of the wall respectively and you whisper a word, then your friend will hear clearly what you say.

But it was protected barrier now, We can’t try this game any more.

Nine-Dragon Cypress
It got its name from branches which look like nine dragons wind with each other. It was said that the cypress was already 500 years old.

The Temple of Heaven Travel Guide

Address:
East of Tianqiao, Tiantanlu, Chongwen District, BeiJing
(South of Tian’an Men Square, on the east side of Qian Men Dajie)

Opening Hours:
6:00am to 17:30pm (March.1 to June.30)
6:00am to 18:00pm (July.1 to Oct.31)
6:00am to 17:00pm (Nov.1 to Feb.28)

Admission Fee:
All-inclusive tickets (lian piao): ¥30 (Nov. 1 to Mar. 31) ¥35 (Apr. 1 to Oct. 31)
simple park admission costs ¥15.

Offical Website:
The Temple of Heaven

How to get There
For the east gate (dong men), take the 807 or 812 bus from just north of the Chongwen Men metro stop (209, exit B) to Fahua Si. Bus 106 runs from Dongzhimen to the north entrance; bus 54 passes the west gate on its way from Qianmen and bus 41 from Chongwenmen stops near the east gate.
Other Buses are 2, 6, 17, 34, 35, 110, 120, 122, 610, 707, 721, 739…

Travel Map of The Temple of Heaven :
Download:BeiJing The Temple of Heaven Map(Chinese-English) (87)

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Tags: BeiJing, China Travel, Chinese Tradition, The Temple of Heaven, the UNESCO World Heritage Site, Travel Guide, Travel Map

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