Temple of Heaven - Beijing China
Today my cousin and I visited The Temple of Heaven located a bit south of Tian'anmen on line 5 of the subway (tiantandongmen). My favorite spot was the Circular Mound Altar, which is most significant this time of year! This is a photo of my cousin Elliott looking regal as he poses. The Circular Altar has three layered terraces with white marble. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties (1368 A.D. - 1911 A.D.), the emperors would offer sacrifice to Heaven on the day of the Winter Solstice every year. This ceremony was to thank Heaven and hope everything would be good in the future. Another important building in Temple of Heaven is Imperial Vault of Heaven. If you look at it from far away, you will find that the Vault is like a blue umbrella with gold head. The structure of it is like that of Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest, but smaller in size. The structure was made of bricks and timber. The Vault was used to place memorial tablets of Gods. White marble railings surround the vault. The ...