Temple of Heaven 天坛

Welcome, everyone! Welcome to the Temple of Heaven in Beijing. Today we'll follow the officially recommended route — entering through the South Gate and visiting the Circular Mound Altar, the Echo Wall, the Divine Path, and the Hall of Praying for Good Harvests in sequence, before exiting through the North Gate.

First, let's talk about what this place actually is. The Temple of Heaven was where emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties performed the rites of Heaven worship and prayed for a good harvest. Construction began in 1420, during the eighteenth year of the Yongle Emperor's reign. The park covers 273 hectares — four times the size of the Forbidden City. What makes the Temple of Heaven truly remarkable is the philosophy behind its design: it embodies the ancient concept of "heaven is round, earth is square" — circular in the north, square in the south — symbolizing the harmonious unity of heaven and earth. The emperor's ceremonial procession moved from south to north along this central axis: from earth, toward heaven.

We are now standing at the Circular Mound Altar, at the southern end of the complex — the very place where the emperor conducted the Grand Rites of Heaven on the winter solstice. Built in 1530, during the ninth year of the Jiajing Emperor's reign, it consists of three concentric terraces of white marble. This altar encodes the mystery of the number nine at every turn: in ancient China, nine was the highest yang number and represented heaven, so every dimension here — the number of stone steps, the diameter of each terrace, the count of balustrade panels — is nine or a multiple of nine. Each tier has nine steps; the diameter of the upper platform is nine zhang. Layer upon layer, it evokes the "nine heavens," expressing the ancient reverence for the sky at its most absolute.

Please make your way to the round stone slab at the very center of the altar — this is the famous Heavenly Heart Stone. Stand on it and speak at normal volume. You'll notice your voice sounds noticeably louder and fuller. This is no illusion — the Heavenly Heart Stone sits at the exact center of the circular altar. Sound radiates outward in all directions, reflects off the surrounding ring of balustrades, and bounces back to the same point, layering on top of your original voice and amplifying it. It is a masterpiece of ancient Chinese acoustic engineering. The emperor once stood on this very stone to address the heavens — his voice echoing back as if it truly reached the ears of the sky. After taking in the Circular Mound Altar, let's head north to something even more astonishing: the Echo Wall.

We've now arrived at the Imperial Vault of Heaven, just north of the Circular Mound Altar. This small circular hall, with its blue glazed tiles and gilded finial, is where the spirit tablets used in the Heaven worship ceremonies were kept on a permanent basis. The hall stands 19.5 meters tall and has a diameter of 15.6 meters. Step inside and look up at the ceiling — you'll find an elaborate caisson in tones of green and blue, with a magnificent gilded dragon at its center. The spirit tablets would be stored here throughout the year and ceremonially carried to the Circular Mound Altar for the winter solstice rites.

What made the Imperial Vault of Heaven truly famous, though, is the circular wall enclosing it — the Echo Wall. The wall stands 3.72 meters high and has a diameter of 65.2 meters. Its magic lies entirely in the craftsmanship: every brick was ground and fitted with seamless precision, leaving the surface extraordinarily smooth and even. Because of this, sound waves don't scatter when they strike the wall — instead they travel along its curved surface, hugging it all the way around. Give it a try: two people standing at the base of the east and west side halls — pressing close to the wall and speaking softly — can hear each other perfectly across a distance of 60 meters, even though they're completely out of sight of each other, almost like a phone call. That is where the name "Echo Wall" comes from, and it is a brilliant application of acoustic principles by the ancient builders. After experiencing this extraordinary wall, we'll make our way onto the central axis of the Temple of Heaven — the Divine Path.

The long, broad paved causeway we're walking on right now is the Divine Path — it connects the Circular Mound Altar to the south with the Hall of Praying for Good Harvests to the north. This raised walkway stretches 360 meters in total and sits approximately 4 meters above the ground on either side. It forms the central axis of the entire Temple of Heaven complex.

Look down at the pavement beneath your feet — the surface is actually divided into three distinct lanes, and each one has its own rules. The center lane, the most prestigious of the three, is the Divine Way, reserved for the spirit of Heaven alone. The eastern lane is the Imperial Way, for the emperor. The western lane was for princes and high officials. There's another detail worth noticing: the causeway rises gradually as you walk from south to north — from the Circular Mound Altar up toward the Hall of Praying for Good Harvests, the ground climbs steadily higher with every step. This symbolizes rising ever upward, step by step toward the heavens. So these 360 meters, short as they seem, are really a road to the sky. Cross the Divine Path, and ahead of you — that circular hall with the blue roof — is the star of the Temple of Heaven: the Hall of Praying for Good Harvests.

We've arrived at the most famous structure at the Temple of Heaven — the Hall of Praying for Good Harvests. This circular triple-eaved hall with its brilliant blue roof is where Ming and Qing emperors conducted the spring ceremony each year to pray for abundant harvests. It is the defining symbol of the entire complex.

Construction began in 1420, during the eighteenth year of the Yongle Emperor's reign. Originally built as a rectangular hall, it was redesigned into its current circular triple-eaved form in 1545, during the twenty-fourth year of the Jiajing Emperor's reign, and received its distinctive blue glazed tiles and gilded finial in 1751, the sixteenth year of the Qianlong Emperor. The hall stands 38.2 meters tall with a diameter of 24.2 meters. What is truly breathtaking about this structure is that its entire system of pillars encodes the Chinese conception of time in wood and stone. Step inside and look at the columns — the hall is supported by 28 pillars of golden-grain nanmu wood: the 4 innermost pillars, known as the "dragon-well columns," represent the four seasons; the 12 middle "golden columns" correspond to the twelve months of the year; the 12 outer "eave columns" represent the twelve two-hour periods of the traditional Chinese day; the middle and outer rings combined — 24 pillars — also correspond to the twenty-four solar terms; and all 28 together evoke the twenty-eight lunar mansions of the night sky. In other words, when you stand inside this hall, you are standing at the center of a universe built from timber.

The roof is covered in blue glazed tiles — blue symbolizing heaven. And there is one more detail that deserves particular admiration: this towering hall, from top to bottom, was assembled without a single nail. It holds together entirely through the traditional Chinese system of interlocking mortise-and-tenon joinery — and has stood for centuries. It is the pinnacle of ancient Chinese timber-frame architecture. On weekend evenings and major public holidays, the Hall of Praying for Good Harvests is illuminated, its blue-tiled roof and golden crown glowing against the night sky like a sacred hall bridging earth and heaven. With that, our visit to the Hall of Praying for Good Harvests — and very nearly our entire journey through the Temple of Heaven — is drawing to a close.

Friends, walking north from the Hall of Praying for Good Harvests brings us to the final stop of today's journey — the North Gate.

Standing here and looking back, it's the perfect moment to reflect on everything we've seen. We entered through the South Gate and walked northward along the central axis: we felt our voices amplified on the Heavenly Heart Stone at the Circular Mound Altar; we marveled at sound traveling along the curved wall of the Echo Wall; we crossed the Divine Path, that road "rising step by step toward heaven"; and we stood inside the Hall of Praying for Good Harvests, surrounded by a universe built from 28 pillars. From the square altar in the south to the circular hall in the north — this "circular north, square south" layout runs through the entire Temple of Heaven, and it is all saying the same thing: the ancient ideal of harmony between heaven and humanity.

Six hundred years ago, emperors walked this route to worship heaven and pray for rain, good harvests, and peace across the land. Today, it is a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site — and also a beloved public park where Beijingers come every morning to exercise, stroll, and sing opera. Thank you all for joining me today. I hope this ancient sanctuary of imperial Heaven worship leaves you with a lasting and beautiful memory. Wishing you a wonderful journey ahead — until we meet again!