Calvin’s Hub

After sleeping for most of the morning coming back from Datong, we are ready to go somewhere inside the city that doesn’t require a lot of time. After eating lunch at the mall, we’re off to Temple of Heaven which is another UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Temple of Heaven

The Temple of Heaven is a complex where the emperor came every winter solstice to worship Heaven and pray for good harvest. It is seen as the most holy of Beijing’s imperial temples. It was constructed between 1406 and 1420 and underwent renovation in early 2005.

Today, it has been converted into a park that is popular among tourists and locals. If you come early in the morning you will often see old people doing tai chi. We arrived in the afternoon so all we saw were old ladies dancing to pop music. Hahaha.

GETTING THERE:

Take the subway and get off the Tiantandongmen station on Line 5. [Beijing Subway Map]

Look for the Temple of Heaven exit at the station and when you get out on the street, turn right and you will arrive at the east gate where you can enter.

We walked left instead of right so it was a very long walk till we reach the north gate which incidentally, was farther from the main attractions.

The place is very huge but you want to cover the top three attractions inside: The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, Imperial Vault of Heaven & Echo Wall and the Altar to Heaven. [Temple of Heaven Map]

Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests

The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests is the main attraction of this place. It is a three-tiered wooden structure that sits on a large, three-tiered marble stone base. What makes it impressive is that no nails were used during construction of this hall.

It would be nice if you could take a photo of this structure with the blue sky as a backdrop. It was a cloudy day for us and there were lots of people so we didn’t stay long. Oh yeah, take a panorama shot here!

Imperial Vault of Heaven & Echo Wall

Going south you will reach the Imperial Vault of Heaven is a round structure that looks like a mini version of the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests with only a one gable and a single tier marble base.

It is surrounded by the Echo Wall which is a circular wall that can transmit sound from one end to the other. Don’t be surprised to see people shouting at the wall. Hehehe.

Altar to Heaven

On the opposite side of the Imperial Vault of Heaven you will reach the Altar to Heaven or is also known as the Circular Mound Altar. It is a three-tiered empty marble base that was used to worship heaven at winter solstice.

Too bad there’s no high ground nearby where you can take a bird’s eye view of this circular altar.

That’s the tour of Temple of Heaven. It took us less than two hours to complete our tour of the place.

You can visit other sites inside the park or you can do some shopping at nearby Hongqiao Market (Pearl Market) which is just across the street near the East Gate. You can’t miss it.

TOTAL COST:
Subway ticket to Tiantandognmen Station – 2 RMB
Full ticket to Temple of Heaven – 30 RMB (35 RMB during peak season)

Part 8: Jingshan Park and Forbidden City

You might also be interested in:

• Touring Beijing in Winter Part 10: New Summer Palace
• Touring Beijing in Winter Part 9: The Egg, Tian’anmen Square and Qianmen Street
• Touring Beijing in Winter Part 8: Jingshan Park and Forbidden City
• Touring Beijing in Winter Part 1: The Plan

Filed under: Travel