Beijing Photo Gallery - Temple of Heaven

The temple is now accessible by subway, unlike my last visit in 2009 by foot from Qianmen. Still, it is a long walk through the park to get to the actual sights.

Dating from the Ming Dynasty, the Temple of Heaven was used by the emperor to pray and make sacrifies to the heaven and his ancestors during the winter equinox. The blue tiles symbolize heaven and is rises to 38m high. Not a single nail was used in the construction.

The circular design symbolizes the sky.

An elevated walkway connects the temple with the Qinian Dian. The emperor would walk along the centre median.

Built in 1420, Qinian Dian was used to pray for good harvests.

Behind this gate, the 3-tiered marble platform rises 6m high and was used for the winter equinox sacrifice.

The centre of the altar represents the centre of the world, where the emperor would sacrifice a young bullock.