Another tourist attraction worth seeing is the Temple of heaven, another UNESCO world cultural site, which is, (could you believe) much bigger than the Forbidden City and a little smaller than the Summer Palace. The temple was built in 1420 during the Ming Dynasty to offer sacrifice to the heavens for good harvest. Like the many tourist spots in Beijing, it has an entrance fee (around CNY 20). Tip: Ask for a free map.
To get there: Travel via Subway Line 5 and get off at Tiantan Dongmen Station, leave from Exit A and you'll find the East Gate of the Park of the Temple.
To get there: Travel via Subway Line 5 and get off at Tiantan Dongmen Station, leave from Exit A and you'll find the East Gate of the Park of the Temple.
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| Imperial Vault of Heaven |
The unique circular structure represents heaven while the square ground represent earth. The complex has several features that shows the connection of heaven and earth by these two shapes.
One of the memorable China moments we had is passing through this great hall. We thought they were tourists but found out that they are actually locals playing what seems to be "Kara y krus" (a banned game in the Philippines). Most are old men, with their cigarettes on and talking really loud hehehehe. It was really fun watching them.
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| Merry men of China |
I've read that there was a 600 year old Cypress tree among the 3,000 Cypresses that surrounds the temple complex but because of the snow, we were not able to find it. It's not also shown in the map. Anyway, even though we did not find it, we were fond of the many Christmas tree-like trees in the area and enjoyed strolling in the park away from the busy crowd.
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| 3,000 cypress groves surrounds the temple park |
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