The Temple of Heaven was built in the Ming Dynasty (AD 1420) by the emperor Zhu Di in the royal garden. Once a year, at winter solstice, the emperors came here to worship Heaven and to solemnly pray for a good harvest.
Every year at the winter solstice, the Ming and Qing emperors would come here to pray in a magnificent procession lasting several days. This was designed to bless next year 's crops and curry favor with Heaven for the general health of the empire. This ceremony lasted until 1914. Before the ritual, the emperor would fast in the Hall of Abstinence. Then he would offer sacrifices and prayers at the Altar of Heaven, a stone terrace of three levels. The lowest tier symbolizes the Earth, the second the world of human beings, and the last, Heaven
Temple of Heaven quick Facts
Location: Southeast of central Beijing.
Tiantan Donglu; 天坛东路
Opening Hours: 8 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Ticket Price: low season Y10–30
high season Y15–35
How to get to the Temple of Heaven:
Walk or take a bus to your nearest subway station and try to take subway line 5 or interchange for subway line 5. Get off at the stop of East Temple of Heaven (天坛东站）of Line 5. Then walk to the nearby east gate
of Temple of Heaven
Bus 3, 6, 17, 20, 35, 39, 54, 106, 116, 120,
122, or 803
Best time to visit : Early morning
The East Gate is the most popular place to enter the park but queues for tickets are shorter at the West Gate.
The Temple of Heaven is considered the most holy of Beijing's imperial temples
The Temple of Heaven. It is well worth waking up for; you will have an interesting experience watching local people doing morning exercises.
The Temple of Heaven is more than just a temple, it is a huge park as well. Inside the huge park, there is a lovely temple complex, which is composed of three main parts – Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, the Imperial Vault of Heaven and Circular Mound Altar sitting along an axis from south to north. Temple of Heaven is called “Tiantan ParK” in Chinese, literally meaning “Temple of Heaven Park.
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