The Temple of Heaven (Tian Tan, 天坛) is a park in Beijing which contains a complex of Taoist buildings. It is located to the southeast of Tiananmen Square. It was constructed in the 1400s and was a site where Ming and Qing Emperors prayed each year for a good harvest. The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests is a three story circular building which is the main landmark of the park. There are also three main halls in the square.

To the south of the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests lies the Imperial Vault of Heaven

and south of the Imperial Vault of Heaven is the Circular Mound Altar.

The Circular Mound Altar is the altar proper where emperors would pray and sacrificial rites were performed. An interesting architectural feature of the altar is that the construction of the top terrace created an echo of the emperor’s voice when he stood on top of the central stone in the center of the altar. The result of the echo was to amplify the emperor’s voice to nearly twice its volume.

On our last trip to China, Karen, Laurel and the kids went to the Temple of Heaven just as it closed. She said it was a very fun park with kids flying kites, musicians playing for the public, and people taking walks. It is one place that Karen wants to return to for a proper visit. I’m sorry I missed it last time and am looking forward to visiting it this time.

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