Everything you need to know about the Temple of Heaven - without actually seeing it.

Hee hee, I need to leave you with some reason to visit China don't I? I'll give you the info, but you'll need to dust off your camera and head to Beijing to see for yourself.

天坛 Tian Tan, Temple of Heaven

Ah Beijing! With bustling sidewalks and busy streets filling all your senses it's hard to imagine anything besides skyscrapers and apartment complexes fill this city. But don't lose heart; there are a few green sanctuaries to be found in the city centre. My personal favourite is the Temple of Heaven.

When you first enter the gates the site doesn't reveal its true self to you. Covering an area almost 5 times larger than the Forbidden City (2.73 square km) you'll find a park fit for an emperor. Just follow the smooth stone chariot road (properly called the 'Sacred Way').

Built over 600 years ago, the temple was originally intended to honor both Heaven and Earth. It was commissioned by same emperor who created the Forbidden City, Emperor YongLe of the Ming dynasty. However, it later became solely devoted to Heaven when Emperor JiaJing (also Ming dynasty) built temples to individually honor the earth, sun and moon.

The three main structures (Alter to Heaven, Imperial vault, and Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests) are aligned along the North-South axis, with other smaller buildings sit East and West following rules of Feng shui.

Let's start with the Alter to Heaven since it's the first thing you see entering through the South gate. Why South? Traditionally the emperor would always enter the Temple of Heaven from the Southern most gate (but if you really want to you can enter from the North gate as well).


1. The Alter of Heaven (圜丘坛 Yuan Qiu Tan)

Is an impressive circular mound rising 5 metres up from a square walled in area. The entire platform was constructed using white marble and, if you have time to count them, works on the number 9 (or 3). The number 9 was the obvious choice for the emperor as it is the highest, greatest, grandest single digit = just like the emperor (no he's not a digit, he's grand!). Don't believe me? Walk to the top of the alter and count the stones surrounding the centre circle. I'll be a monkey's uncle if it's not 9.

2. The Imperial Vault of Heaven (皇穹宇 Huang Qiong Yu) & The Echo Wall

The Echo Wall swirls its 193m self around the vault and stands 3.7m high - but that's not the impressive part. They don't call it 'Echo' for nothing. If you have a friend (or just like eavesdropping on random strangers) stand by one of the three 'echo stones'. You can hear a whisper from the opposite side of the wall. I've heard it myself, acoustical magic.

3. The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests (祈年殿)

The Hall has not one but three circular roofs stacked on top of it. And stands proudly on a marble podium. To reach the door of the Hall one walks up the three terraces supporting the Hall like a 6m high layer cake. Each layer is ornately decorated with carvings of clouds, phoenixes and dragons hold the Hall up above the earth.

The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests itself is 32m high (not counting the layer cake). Within it are 28 pillars (each one a single tree trunk), again numbers are important; the central four pillars symbolize the four seasons of the year. Around those are 12 pillars for the months of the year, and 12 circling them represent Chinese hours or Si Chens.


The Forest for the trees (the big details)

Besides enjoying being surrounded by half-a-century-old Cypress trees in Beijing (a unique experience in itself) try this scavenger hunt: how many circles and squares can you find within the walls of TianTan? Circles, semi-circles and squares are everywhere as they symbolize Heaven (circle) and Earth (square). Not seeing any? Have another look at the map of Temple of Heaven. Also, a subtle thing I didn't notice myself was the growing (or shrinking) walls. The Northern wall is higher than the Southern one, why? The Northern wall was meant to symbolize the heavens (hence the semi-circle) and the South .. you know.


And finally, why is the Temple of Heaven site so much larger than the Forbidden City? The emperors believed they were the Sons of Heaven and they couldn't possibly build their home larger than that of heavens - their maker.


I know this is a lot of info on the Temple of Heaven but it is not conclusive - there's more than just this! Come see for yourself why it was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1998.