Reach the Heavens From Beijing's Temple of Heaven

One of the sites to be visited when in Beijing is the Temple of Heaven. The temple is located in an area of 2,700,000 square meters. The temple is bigger than the Forbidden City, but smaller than the Summer Palace. This temple was constructed in 1420 A.D, which was during the Ming Dynasty. The purpose of the temple was to extend sacrifice to Heaven.

The Temple of Heaven is confined with an elongated wall. The northern division inside the wall is semicircular representing the heavens and the southern part is square which represents the earth. The northern division is elevated than the southern part. This plan depicts that the heaven is lofty and the earth is near to the ground and the plan pondered an ancient Chinese sentiment of “The heaven is circular and the earth is square”.

The most superb buildings at the Temple of Heaven are The Circular Mound Altar, Imperial Vault of Heaven and Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest from south to north. In addition to this, you can also see some extra buildings like Three Echo Stones and Echo Wall. All of the edifices are linked by a broad bridge called Vermilion Steps Bridge or the Sacred Way.

The spherical altar has 3 superimposed patios with white marble. At the time of Ming and Qing Dynasties, the emperors would put forward surrender to Heaven on the day of the Winter Solstice every year. This ritual was to thank Heaven and trust everything would be excellent in the future. The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest is a big palace and has 28 huge posts. The Hall has a base of 3 layers of white marble and has an altitude of 6 meters. Another significant building in the Temple of Heaven is the Imperial Vault of Heaven. The tomb was utilized to place memorial tablets of Gods. White marble rails enfold the vault.

The Vermilion Steps Bridge links the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest and the Imperial Vault of Heaven. The southern end is lower than the northern end. The emperors conceived that they would be able to go to heaven via this Bridge and thus the bridge is known as Sacred Way. A Yu Route and a Wang Route are on both sides of the Sacred Way.

The Three Echo Stones structure is outside the gate of the Imperial Vault of Heaven. When you converse facing the Vault while standing on the 1st stone, you will listen to one echo; standing on the 2nd and then the 3rd stone, you will hear 2 and 3 echoes in that order.

China has much to offer and if you are visiting Beijing for some sightseeing and adventures, make sure you arrange your Beijing hotel accommodations in advance. A luxury hotel in Beijing would be ideal if you intend to have an indulging stay and enjoy the city to its fullest.