Temple of Heaven

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Overview

Temple of Heaven is an imperial complex of religious buildings situated in the southeastern of Beijing. The complex was visited by the Emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties for annual ceremonies of prayer to Heaven for good harvest. It has been regarded as a Taoist temple, although Chinese is heaven worship, especially by the reigning monarch,

Brief

Temple of Heaven was constructed during the reign of the Yong-Le Emperor Ming Dynasty, who was also responsible for the construction of the Forbidden City in Beijing. The complex was extended and renamed Temple of Heaven during the reign of the Jia-Jing Emperor in the 16th century. Jiajing also built three other prominent temples in Beijing, the Temple of Sun in the east, the Temple of Earth in the north, and the Temple of Moon in the west.

Temple of Heaven was renovated in the 18th century under the Qian-Long Emperor of Qing Dynasty. This was also the last large-scale renovation in imperial times.

In 1900, the Eight-Nation Alliance occupied the temple and turned it into the force’s commanding base during the Second Opium War, which lasted for one year. The occupation desecrated the temple and casued serious damage to the building and the garden.

In 1914, Yuan Shi-kai, then President of the Republic of China, performed a Ming prayer ceremony at the temple, as part of an effort to have himself declared Emperor of China. In 1918 the temple was turned into a park and for the first time open to the public.

The Temple of Heaven was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1998 and was described as “a masterpiece of architecture and landscape design which simply and graphically illustrates a cosmogony of great importance for the evolution of one of the world’s great civilizations…” as the “symbolic layout and design of the Temple of Heaven had a profound influence on architecture and planning in the Far East over many centuries.

Temple of Heaven Data

Season defination
High Season: from April 1^st to October 31^st
Low Season: from November 1^st to the next March 31^st

Entrance fee

High Season – Ticket: RMB 15.00 per person / Discount ticket: RMB 7.50 per person
Low Season – Ticket: RMB 10.00 per person / Discount ticket: RMB 5.00 per person

How to Get There

To West Gate –By Bus No. 2、No. 20、No. 120

To North Gate –By Bus No. 6、No.34、No.35、No.36、No.106、No.111

To East Gate –By Bus No. 6、No. 25、No. 34、No. 35、No. 36、No. No. 39、No. 41、No. 43、No. 60、No. 610、No. 684、No. 685、No. 723、No. 814

By Metro –Metro Line 5 at stop “Tian Tan Dong Meng Stop |天坛东门站

To South Gate –By Bus No. 36、No. 120、No. 122 | 天坛东门站