Temple of Heaven

Temple of Heaven is one of the most famous sight seeing for Beijing China Tour. It is a construction complex which used for Prayer good harvest by the emperor in Ming and Qing Dynasty in China. Temple of Heaven is first constructed from year 1406 and end at year 1420 by the emperor Yongle in Ming Dynasty. He is the emperor whom move the capital from Nanjing to Beijing in Ming Dynasty, he is the one whom construct Forbidden City in Beijing also. Temple of Heaven had been enlarged and named as the name in Jiajing period druing 16th century. The emperor Jiajing built the Temple of Sun, Temple of Moon and the Temple of Earth during his reign time. In Qing Dynasty, Qianlong emperor, renovate Temple of Heaven and it became the largest temple for Prayer built by the royal in the world.

During the second opium war, Temple of Heaven occupied by the Eight Nation Alliance and this temple became to the command center for this alliance in Beijing, this situation last for about 1 year. The army from the alliance damage the construction and the garden within there, these action resulted serious damage to this heritage and many halls collapse in the following years. The years after Qing Dynasty, there is no people manage this Temple and left it with barren.
Yuanshikai, the president of year 1914, Republic of China, hold a ceremony in Temple of Heaven, and then he published he had became the emperor in China. Temple of Heaven come to be a public park after year 1918.
In year 1998, UNESCO World Heritage Site had listed Temple of Heaven included and Temple of Heaven became a must be sight seeing when customers visit Beijing.

The area of Temple of Heaven is around 2.73 kilometers and halls within here are the most famous constructions.
The first one is the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests: This construction is 38 meters tall and 36 meters in diameter, it is a magnificent triple-gabled circular building. The emperor always held ceremony here with prayer for good harvests. There is no nails or steel within this hall but all wooden. The one exsit today is the buiding reconstructed after the destroy after year 1889.
The second one is Imperial Vault of Heaven: it is a constuction built on a single marble stone. A famous sight seeing named Echo Wall is inside of the Imperial Vault of Heaven.
The third one is the Circular Mound Altar: it is a building with 3 levels of marble stones, each of them all decorated with dragon. You could find number 9 all around the balusters and steps there. There is a Heart of Heaven in the center of the Circular Mound Altar, it is the place where for the emperor prayer for the rain and sunshine. It is first built in year 1530 and reconstruction in year 1740.