Beijing, The Temple of Heaven Park

By Sally Franz

Located south of the Forbidden City, the Temple of Heaven Park is easily reached by subway. Use line 5 to Tiantandongmen exit A (walk right from the top of the stairs). This will get you through the east gate. I recommend buying the 35 yuan ticket (that is around $5.30) that gets you into not only the park, but all of the ancient Ming buildings on this 276 hectare site. There are restaurants and several snack stations throughout. The park area is covered with some 4,000 ancient knotted cypress trees, some of which are 800 years old propped up on metal poles. Many of these old gems are outside the paid area so anyone can enjoy them. This is a perfect park to start your sightseeing in Beijing as it is not as demanding as others. Wear sturdy comfortable shoes throughout your touring in Beijing. You will thank me for this. Most ancient areas are made of worn marble and can be quite slick. Rain makes it treacherous, so use handrails everywhere.

From the east gate you enter the main attractions via the Long Corridor where locals play cards and listen to music. The rafters are brightly decorated along the lovely covered stroll. If you want to take a side trip, immediately on your right will be what is aptly named the Animal Killing Pavilion. This was for the sacrificial oxen, sheep, deer, etc. used in ceremonies. I skipped this because of lines.

The main attraction is the round alter building called the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests built in 1420. The structure seemingly floats on three tiers of marble platforms. As you travel up the massive steps to the building topped with a triple-tiered roof of purple tiles, notice the sculpted handrails and ceramic water spouts in shapes of dragons. (By the way Chinese dragons are good luck, not like “Lord of the Rings” with fire and death on their minds.) Underneath the eaves are decorated in red, gold, green and aqua blue as are the support beams. Although you cannot go inside these structures, you can walk around and see the interior. When we were there in October the square base plaza was filled with pots of roses of every color. Bases are square to represent earth; pavilions round to represent heaven.

Past the Hall of Prayer of Good Harvests you walk along the 360 meter raised walkway called the Red Stairway Bridge. It is an open promenade of marble and carved railings. Along the way are gift shops and places for snacks. Here we stopped to get photos taken of us dressed like the Emperor and Empress. Not sure what we will do with those photos now that we are home. Maybe bequeath them to grandchildren. It was a great deal of fun at the time is all I can say in my defense. If you miss the opportunity here. do not dismay. Every major attraction in Beijing has this costume-photo feature for a price.

Along the Red Stairway Bridge you are heading to the Imperial Vault of Heaven. The vault held spirit tablets used in the highest ceremony of the winter solstice. Just outside the vault stands the 500 year old Nine Dragon Juniper, a gnarled tree that appears to have nine dragons crawling the trunk with bark for armor. 

Surrounding the Vault of Heaven is the Echo Wall. Named such because you can hear a whisper clear around the walls. Walking further on the promenade you will come to the final major structure of the park, the Round Altar. Reconstructed in 1740, it is made of white marble with light green glazed tiles. It is three tiers of platforms based on the number nine, which is considered heavenly. The stairs are also in numbers of nine. It is also considered an echo chamber on the top with your voice bouncing off the nine marble balustrades increasing in sound. Unfortunately when we were there the lines were massive so we had to pass on trying that out.

If you have several days in Beijing I highly recommend this park. The architecture is perfectly restored and it is flat walking give-or-take a few stairs compared to most other parks this size. But be forewarned, Beijing is for hikers. Start here and work your way up to the Great Wall and Summer Palace. In fact, you should consider walking a mile a day uphill with your sensible shoes on before arriving in Beijing. Vacation is no time to break in shoes or tendons.