Today we went to the Temple of Heaven in Beijing, which is an imperial complex of religious buildings. Its called the Temple of Heaven as it was visited by the emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties for annual ceremonies of prayer to Heaven for good harvests.
It was originally built in the early 15 century during the Yongle emperor, which was the same time that the Forbidden city was being built. If you look at the history of this place, its been occupied by like 4 different dynasties and alliances, served as a military outpost, a religious edifice, and then in 1998 was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
In ancient China the Emperor was regarded as the Son of Heaven, who administered early matters on behalf of, and representing, heavenly authority. To be seen showing report to the source of this authority, this is one of the temples used by them to offer up these good harvest prayers, and is super beautiful.
Packed as most places are there, we went towards the later part of the day, and the grounds were absolutely beautiful! The circle of the temple symbolized heaven, and the square of the complex represents the earth. What's crazy is the grounds of this place is 660 acres big.
Joined by the Walkers, the round Hall of Prayer is the primary focal point, where inside it had dragon pillars each representing a season. There were 12 inner pillars that each represented the lunar month. The architecture was incredible and the deep blues were amazing to see in contrast.
This smaller building is known as the Circular Mound Altar, which was also situated in a square yard showing the connection between heaven and earth. It was much smaller, but made with the same intricacy.
So Heather loves big doors, and she got super excited when she saw this huge gate with 20 foot doors! So much so, she jumped for joy, literally.
The Temple of Heaven grounds went on forever. Super packed as most places are here, the towers and gates just kept going and going. Every gate led to a new courtyard, surrounding a new building, and so on. Little Monster asks all the time now, "can I walk now" because in places with this many people we don't let him walk around on his own especially here since he is blonde and attracts a ton of attention. So we decided to take a break and let him run a little.
If you are planning your trip, just remember that China is nothing by stairs: stairs to heaven, stairs to Hades, stairs to annoy you or stairs to kill you. So be prepared for your stair master!
This place was beautiful though, and we even caught this beautiful arch way as we transitioned between one courtyard and the next outside the Circular Mound Altar. This place was a must to see, but just like the Forbidden City, it's a walking test of patience!
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