The Temple of Heaven (天坛) is a famous temple complex of Taoist buildings in the Chongwen District. Previously visited by the Emperors of Ming and Qing dynasty for prayers of good harvest, it was constructed between 1406 and 1420 during the reign of Emperor Yong Le who was also responsible for the construction of the Forbidden City. It has been listed as one of the many UNESCO World Heritage Site and was described as "a masterpiece of architecture and landscape which illustrates an evolution of one of the world's great civilization. For more information Beijing travel or even other places of interests, you can visit this site for more travel tips.
Overview of the Temple of Heaven main prayer hall
Circular mold around the main shrine
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In front of the temple and on the left the tablet inscripted with the chinese character (Qi Nian Dian) which means Annual Praying Hall.
Inside the Annual Prayer Hall, which is the hall the emperor ascend and pray for good harvest. It means Heavenly Emperor Ascending (Huang Tian Shang Di). correct me if I'm wrong..
Close-up architectural design of the roof of the Temple of Heaven
As time does not permit, I did not visit further to the other two praying hall..instead I walked around the complex and was delighted to came across many senior citizens with various types of activities.
It's really fun to see them kicking and playing shuttlecocks, one of their traditional games
Ribbon dancing
An old lady performing a dance and a sketch
chacha dancing class for everyone..
and even tai chi classes, calligraphy writing and much more..it's very nice for me to watch especially in the early cool spring in the morning and the old generations are really taking time to relax and enjoy their life.
The next post would be up on about the gardens and some beautiful flowers in the Temple of Heaven.
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