Temple of Heaven (Tiantan Park)

Built in the 18th year of the Yongle era of the Ming Dynasty (1420), the Temple of Heaven was expanded and rebuilt in the Jiajing era of the Ming Dynasty and the Qianlong era of the Qing Dynasty. The architecture is magnificent and the environment is solemn.
The Temple of Heaven is the place where the emperors of Ming and Qing dynasties "worship the heaven" and "pray for the good harvest". The altar domain is round in the north and square in the south, which implies that "the heaven is round and the earth is square". There are two walls around the altar, dividing the whole altar into two parts: the inner altar and the outer altar. The total area is 273 hectares, and the main buildings are mainly located in the inner altar.
The inner altar is divided into the north and south by a wall. In the north is "pray for the good harvest altar", which is used for praying for a good year in spring, and the central building is the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests. The south is the "Circular Mound Altar", which is dedicated to the worship on the "Winter Solstice", and the central building is a huge circular stone platform called the "Circular Mound". The two altars are connected by a 360-meter-long canal above the ground - Danbi Bridge. They form a 1200-meter-long north-south axis of the Temple of Heaven, with a large area of ancient Berlin on both sides.
In the south side of the West Heaven Gate, there is the Hall of Abstinence, which is the residence for the emperor to abstain from fasting before the sacrifice. There is a "divine music department" in the western outer altar, responsible for the teaching and performance of ritual music and dance. The main buildings inside the altar are the Hall of Prayer Goods Harvests, the hall of Imperial Zenith, Circular Mound Altar, the Imperial Vault of Heaven, the Hall of Abstinence, the Hall of No Beams,