We arrived very early 7am and witnessed hundreds of Beijing locals practicing all manor of exercise forms from Tai Chi, Kung Fu, jogging and dancing. The whole ambiance of the park and the people in it was fantastic and very calming and peaceful. This was a special experience on our Beijing trip.

Our Impression - Reasons to visit the Temple of Heaven

This temple is very huge and beautiful and is surrounded by a vast public park. Home to many ancient trees, this is also the greenest place in Beijing.

Three Echo Stones are outside of the gate of the Imperial Vault of Heaven. If you speak facing the Vault while standing on the first stone, you will hear one echo; standing on the second and then the third stone, you will hear two and three echoes respectively. Another interesting and famous place we visited is the Echo Wall. The wall encloses the Imperial Vault of Heaven. If one person stand at the east and the other at the west roots of the wall respectively and you whisper a word, then your will hear clearly what the other one said. Isn’t it interesting? The phenomenon utilizes the theory of sound wave.

Tips

Visit the Temple of Heaven early in the morning to see thousands of Beijingers starting the day with tai chi.

How to get there: Travel Beijing

The most convenient way for getting there is taking the Subway Line 5 to the Tian Tan Dong Men Station (East Gate). It also can be reached by buses 2, 7, 17, 20, 110, 120, 803, 814, 826 to the West Gate (Tiantan Ximen); or buses 35 and 106 to the North Gate (Tiantan Beimen). Park and historical sights (like the temple) ¥35, park only ¥15. But i recommend to take the full ticket - it’s definitly worth it.

Additional infos to the Temple of Heaven

The Temple of Heaven is situated in a very large park, more than twice the size of the Forbidden City. As this was to be the space representing Heaven on Earth, symbolically it needed to be bigger than the Forbidden City. It is about 2 kilometers from north to south.

The inner walled area that houses the main structures covers 275 Hectares (2.75 million square meters). Indeed, it is the largest group of constructions for worship in the world.

Just a short stroll away from the historical sights will bring you to peaceful woods  and, amazingly, solitude (especially toward the West Gate). The temple itself was the site where the emperor prayed every year for good  harvests and fair weather.

View all our Photos of the Temple of Heaven

We postet all our photos of the Temple of Heaven at findoutwheretogo.com. We hope they help for your Beijing trip. Travel Beijing - it´s an amazing city!

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