Final part of Day 1 - Temple of Heaven

The Temple of Heaven - 天坛 - was another beautiful site! This was visited by the Emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties for annual ceremonies of prayer to Heaven for good harvest.Inside the Temple that is now closed off to the public...The Temple grounds is made up of three main groups of constructions, all built according to strict philosophical requirements:
1. The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests - 祈年殿 - a magnificent triple-gabled circular building built on three levels of marble stone base, where the Emperor prayed for good harvests. The building is completely wooden, with no nails.

2. The Imperial Vault of Heaven - 皇穹宇 - a single-gabled circular building, built on a single level of marble stone base. It is surrounded by a smooth circular wall, the Echo Wall, that can transmit sounds over large distances.

3. The Circular Mound Altar - 圜丘坛 - the altar proper, which is an empty circular platform on three levels of marble stones, where the Emperor prayed for favorable weather. It was built in 1530 by the Jiajing Emperor and rebuilt in 1740. Juliana had a lot of fun running around outside all of the buildings...
This was the Altar of Heaven, a circular mound looking south. The number nine represents the Emperor and is evident in the design of the Circular Mound Altar: a single round marmor plate is surrounded by a ring of nine plates, then a ring of 18 plates, and so on for a total of nine surrounding rings, the outermost having 9×9 plates. Here's Juliana and I on the Circular Mound, which is very symbolic of the Chinese beliefs...
All the buildings within the Temple have special dark blue roof tiles, representing the Heaven. Each color has a different representation as well as animals too (will get to later).

A neat tree on the way out...

It was a wonderful Temple to visit with a lot of symbolism and helped us learn more about the ancient Chinese culture and their beliefs.