Must see attractions in Temple of Heaven Park & Dongcheng South

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An oasis of methodical Confucian design, the 267-hectare Temple of Heaven Park is unique. It originally served as a vast stage for solemn rites performed…

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This immense fortress, part of the Ming City Wall Ruins Park, guarded the southeast corner of Beijing's city walls. Originally built in 1439 but repaired…

The crowning glory of the Temple of Heaven is the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, its triple-eaved roof canopy of glazed blue tiles reflecting its…

The present build dating to around 1540, this is the business end of the Temple of Heaven. Here on this open-air, raised platform (a circle within a…

Inside the Echo Wall, this ornate building was merely a storeroom, used to keep the spirit tablets of the gods and other materials used for the ceremonies…

This wistful stretch of brick and stone is all that remains (besides a couple of other denuded nubs) of Beijing's once formidable city walls, girding the…

This palace complex close to the West Heavenly Gate was used by the emperor for three days prior to conducting the winter solstice ceremony at the Round…

Thanks to its unique acoustic properties, a quiet spoken word or two against this circular wall can be heard at the opposite point, some 65m away …

This grand walkway leads north from the Imperial Vault of Heaven to the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests.

Presenting a top-down perspective on the world's most micromanaged megacity, dry exhibits detail the government's grand schemes for Beijing, with scant…

Music, song and dance were integral components of the arcane rituals performed by the Emperor at the Temple of Heaven, and here is where the ranks of…

Fans of Communist ephemera or esoteric booze brands might get a kick out this place set up by Red Star, a popular brand of Beijing báijiǔ, China's famous…

In the old Qianmen Railway Station, which served Beijing from 1906 to 1959 (although only the clock tower is original), this museum offers a fairly…

New York and London needn't fret: Beijing's Natural History Museum isn't going to rival their august institutions any time soon. Not with exhibits that…

With its double-tiered roof of green glazed tiles, the Animal Killing Pavilion was where the slaughter of oxen, sheep, deer and other animals took place,…

A covered promenade connecting the Animal Killing Pavilion with the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, the Long Corridor these days is a veritable mini…

A gateway on the Red Stairway Bridge that opens on to the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests.

You'll pass through this ornamental portal if you are accessing the Temple of Heaven Park from the main east entrance.

An ornamental gate at the northern edge of the park, some distance inside the main Temple of Heaven North Gate.

This ornamental gateway will take you towards the main sights if you enter the park at the main west gate.