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Due to curiosity, I've tried to practice using Beijing Subway and it was so easy and convenient that I arrived Tiantandongmen Station at 7:15 AM. Too early, they only allowed us to enter the outer area. We had to wait 45 minutes for the inner area to be open, so I wandered around... This picture has been shot from the North side toward the main temple, as you can tell by looking at the shadow falling from left to right.

When they open at 8:00 AM, you have to buy another ticket in order to be permitted to the inner area.

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According to Beijing Service, Temple of Heaven was the place where emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties (about seven hundreds years ago) came to perform worship to the God of Heaven and pray for good harvests. They came to the temple twice a year, on the 15th day of the first lunar month and on winter solstice respectively. If there happened to be a drought, they would come on summer solstice to pray for rainfall.

Chinese emperors usually paid strong veneration to Heaven, the Supreme Being that governed the universe. They considered themselves the "sons of heaven" and showed great concern over the rituals of heaven worship. In early Ming Dynasty, both heaven and earth were worshipped here. After the Temple of Earth was built in 1530, Heaven alone was bowed down here.

The worship of heaven first took place in the western Zhou Dynasty (11th century BC - 770 BC), and became a routine during the Han period (206 BC - 220 AD).

One of the latest events of heaven worship was held in 1915 by the Yuan Shikai. In 1918, however, the Temple of Heaven was turned into park and opened to the public.







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