Temple of Ancient Monarchs

Beijing

Closed for an indeterminate period at the time of research, this Taoist ancestral temple, built in 1530, is where emperors would honour their royal predecessors. The scale of the complex is vast – the main hall, the Jing De Chong Sheng Palace, is the second-largest of its kind in Beijing (after the Forbidden City's Hall of Supreme Harmony). Look out for glazed-tile furnaces, used to burn paper and silk offerings.