Visit to the Temple of Heaven

When you think about China there are so many images that come to mind. People think of rice fields, bamboo, panda bears, upward curving roofs, and so much more. Now that I have visited,  one of the images that will come to my mind will be of the Temple of Heaven. This is a beautiful place and sacred ground once used as a place of prayer for the emperors of China. Today it is used as a community gathering place, a tourist attraction, and museum.

The Temple of Heaven is a massive complex of old structures and high walls. the first thing you see when you walk up is jade colored tile lining the tops of 15ft. walls. During the Japanese invasion the temple was used as a military base, no doubt chosen for these very walls. As you move through them they seem to be as thick as they are tall.

Beyond the walls there are a great many people performing a great number of activities. There are street performers dancing with long ribbons, a group doing a kind of tai chi and yoga combination. The atmosphere is lively, fun and increasingly crowded. As you move down the sidewalk The Hall of Payer for Good Harvests Suddenly appears in the background, and you pass more groups of singers and dancers as you move closer to it.

This temple along with two other prayer locations make up the primary structures within the temple of heaven. They are quite old, but they have been rebuilt over the years for various reasons. Their beauty and architecture are astounding. But like a lot of things in China it is easy to be impressed by things that are impossibly old.

This is a place that really should be on the list of places to visit when you're in China because hundreds of years later it still draws an enormous amount of people.