We had a long day touring Beijing, and the Temple of Heaven was one of the later stops in the afternoon. Fortunately, the visible pollution had decided to leave and we could actually see the sky in Beijing for an extended period of time. The novelty! Unfortunately, this also meant it got a good deal warmer in the afternoon, but it was not unpleasant–I’d say mid 80’s with quite a bit of humidity. So forgive my unmatching cactus hat below to protect my face from the sun…yes, I like to match at all times. But you know what? Sometimes I fail and put function over fashion. Collective gasp.
The Temple of Heaven is one of the most common examples of ancient Chinese design and architecture. It was built in the 1400’s during the Ming Dynasty, and is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Later, it was again enlarged by the Qing Dynasty. The Temple of Heaven Park–in pinyin–is Tiantan Park. There is a small charge to get in to the temple complex (RMB 35 April-October, RMB 30 November-March). Public transportation is close by at the Tiantan Dongmen station, but we did have a car drop us off which was very convenient, especially given the heat and air quality.
The Temple of Heaven reflects Taoism, and the idea prevalent in ancient Chinese philosophy that heaven is round (the temple) and earth is square. It was used for sacrificial rituals and worship ceremonies: in particular, to the heavens for good harvests. If you are interested, I think this site has pretty useful information about the various structures and their uses. The complex is not that large, but how long you spend here primarily depends on how interested you are in Chinese architecture, etc. For a normal visitor who wants to come in, look around, and snap some photos, I’d say 30-45 minutes is plenty.
Tiantan Park has become a hugely popular place for locals to gather, visit, play music, and play games. We saw a string quartet, to many elderly Chinese enjoying Mahjong. A few people were also playing chess, lots of cards, and some were working on handicrafts. A few were doing Tai Chi. It was a really fun place to get a taste of local culture and see how people spent some of their free time. They all looked like they were really enjoying themselves, and were quite animatedly involved in their Mahjong games! It seemed like a great community place to spend an afternoon (or for those that are retired, an entire day).
Also impressive are the 500-800 (some report even older) cypress trees that spring from the grounds of the Temple of Heaven Park. How old? Well, who really knows. The Temple of Heaven is surely picturesque and a great stop in Beijing.
