Beijing (4) - The Temple of Heaven

The Temple of Heaven - TianTan (天坛) was our travel focus on 17/05. The temple complex was constructed from 1406 to 1420 during the reign of the Emperor YongLe and the construction completion at the same time with the completion of Forbidden City, in preparation for the move of capital from Nanjing to Beijing. It was visited by the Emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties for annual ceremonies of prayer to Heaven for good harvest.

It was inscribed as UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1998. It was described as "a masterpiece of architecture and landscape design which simply and graphically illustrates a cosmogony of great importance for the evolution of one of the world’s great civilizations".

We took the subway line 5 and reached at the temple at Tiantandongmen station. The Entry ticket was priced fairly at RMB35 and we entered via the East Gate (DongMen) entrance.

There are 3 main areas for visit in the temple (1) The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests (祈年殿), (2) The Imperial Vault of Heaven (皇穹宇) and (3) The Circular Mound Altar (圜丘坛).

We squeezed through among the local middle age folks who were enjoying their activities such as singing, dancing, etc along the long Hallway. We were immediately amazed with The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests in front of us.

The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests

The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests is a triple-gabled circular building, built on three levels of marble stone base, where the Emperor prayed for good harvests.

Photo taken around the hall

It's getting hot - You can see some with umbrella and some under the shade

Inside the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests

The Hall - View from the south

A huge round green glazed brick stove or the "Firewood Stove" is placed around. It was interesting to find out that the stove was used to burn a calf to welcome the God of Heaven before the ceremony of praying for harvests began. After the praying ceremony, all the offerings,ceremonial placards and silk scrolls were respectfully transferred to the stove and burned while the emperor stood by watching it.

Firewood Stove

We moved south and crossed the ChengZhenMen gate to the next building - The Imperial Vault of Heaven.

ChengZhenMen gate

The Imperial Vault of Heaven is a single-gabled circular building, built on a single level of marble stone base.

The Imperial Vault of Heaven

The amazing structure at the top


The Imperial Vault of Heaven - Internal View

The Imperial Vault of Heaven is surrounded by a smooth circular wall, the Echo Wall, that can transmit sounds over large distances. We had a short rest here as it was getting hot. Some kids were seen having fun here with their parents.

We walked south further to the Circular Mound Altar. It is an empty circular platform on three levels of marble stones, where the Emperor prayed for favorable weather

The Circular Mound Altar

On our way back, we turned west to have a quick look on the ZhaiGong, a place where the emperor had the purification (proper body cleaning, no alcohol drink, no meat etc) before the the ceremony.

ZhaiGong

We concluded the entire visit for the Temple of Heaven during the noon. As we are in the area of Chongwenmen (崇文门), We walked to the famous restaurant - Lao Beijing Zhajiang Mian Da Wang (老北京炸酱面大王) for lunch. Frankly speaking, I was not quite used to the traditional Beijing ZhaJang noodles which the taste of souce is a little bit sour. The shizitou (the meatballs made of pork) was okay. I liked the Pea cake (豌豆黄) we ordered.