China Guide
Beijing
The Temple of Heaven
Opening time: Daily 8.30am–8pm, buildings close at 5pm
Price: ¥30 for access to all buildings; park only: ¥10 (low season), ¥15 (high season)
Address: About 2km south of Tian'anmen along Qianmen Dajie
Set in its own large and tranquil park, Tiantan, otherwise known as the Temple of Heaven, is widely regarded as the high point of Ming design. For five centuries it was at the heart of imperial ceremony and symbolism, and for many modern visitors its architectural beauty remains more appealing – and on a much more accessible scale – than the Forbidden City.
Completed in 1420, the temple was conceived as the prime meeting point of Earth and Heaven. Heaven was considered round, and Earth square, thus the round temples and altars stand on square bases, while the whole park has the shape of a semicircle sitting beside a square. The intermediary between Earth and Heaven was of course the Son of Heaven, the emperor, and the temple was the site of the most important ceremony of the imperial-court calendar, when the emperor prayed for the year's harvests at the winter solstice.
Although you're likely to enter the park from the north or the west, it's best to skirt round to the south entrance, the Zhaohen Gate, from where you can follow the ceremonial route up through the complex. This leads straight to the Round Altar, whose three marble tiers represent Man, Earth and (at the summit) Heaven. The top terrace now stands bare, but the spot at its centre, where the Throne of Heaven was placed, was considered to be the middle of the Middle Kingdom – the very centre of the earth.
The principal temple building – the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests – at the north end of the park, is, quite simply, a wonder. Made entirely of wood, without a single nail, the circular structure rises from another three-tiered marble terrace, to be topped by three blue-tiled roofs of harmonious proportions. The dazzling colours of the interior, surrounding the central dragon motif, make the pavilion seem ultramodern; it was, in fact, entirely rebuilt, faithful to the Ming design, after the original was destroyed by lightning in 1889.