Temple of Heaven

A globally celebrated historic and cultural city, Beijing boasts a history of over 3000 years, 850 of which have been as China's capital.  It is a city rich in cultural relics. The Forbidden City, the Great Wall, the Summer Palace, the Temple of Heaven, the Peking Man Site and the Ming Tombs are listed as World Cultural Heritage Sites.

Temple of Heaven

Add: A1 Tiantanbei Lu, Chongwen District

Tel: (010) 6702-8866

Open: 6am-8pm

Admission: 15 yuan

Buses: 2, 6, 15, 16, 17, 20, 34, 35, 36, 43, 45, 54, 60, 106, 110, 116, 120

Lying south of Tian'anmen Square and the Forbidden City, the park's circular Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests has become as much a symbol of the city as those celebrated landmarks.

This near-perfect example of Ming architecture is set in a 267-hectare park and marked by four gates at the points of the compass. Emperors would come to the park to offer sacrifices and pray for good harvests in winter.

The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests is the apex of the park and mounted on a three-tiered marble terrace, dating back to AD 1420. The four central pillars denote the seasons while the "12" symbolizes the months of the year. Look up for the dragon, the emperor's symbol, carved into the ceiling.

Viewed from above, the temples (look for the Imperial Vault of Heaven) are round while their bases are square. The pattern is no coincidence, coming from the ancient Chinese belief that heaven is round and the earth square.

And if you are interested in numbers, you will be in a numerological seventh heaven. Everything here revolves around the imperial supreme number 9. The Round Altar (Yuan Qiu) is made up of white marble in three tiers with the top tier believed to symbolise heaven, with 9 rings of stones, each in turn made up of multiples of nine.

If you are lucky enough to enjoy this spectacle on a quiet day, check out the Echo Wall, north of the altar. It is said a whisper at one end can be clearly heard at the other thanks to superb acoustics.