Top ten of Beijing in my eyes：Temple of Heaven &Peking Opera
The Temple of Heaven is located in southern Beijing. It is included in the UNESCO world heritage list in 1998. With an area of 2.7 million square meters, it is the largest of its kind in the country. Built in 1420, the 18th year of the reign of Ming Emperor Yongle, the temple was where emperors went to worship heaven for good harvests.
The temple consists of two parts——the inner altar and outer altar. The main buildings are in the inner altar, on the north-south axis. At the southern end are the Imperial Vault of Heaven(1) and the Circular Mound Altar(2). On the northern end are the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests(3) and the Hall of Imperial Zenith(4). The structures at both ends are connected by a 360-meter-long walk. There is also the Hall of Abstinence(5) inside the West Heavenly Gate in which the emperor fasted for three days and bathed before prayer.
The temple’s main building is the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, where the emperor prayed for good harvests. The round hall, 38 meters high and 30 meters in diameter, has triple eaves and a cone-shaped deep blue tile roof crowned with a gilded knob. Surrounding the hall is a six-meter-high spacious circular stone terrace on three levels, each edged by a balustrade of carved white marble.
The Circular Mound Altar is one of the more important buildings and is a three-tier white stone terrace enclosed by two walls. Geometrically designed, the altar has a taiji rock at the center of the top terrace. If you stand on the rock and speak in a normal voice, your voice will sound louder and more resonant to yourself than to others around you, because the sound waves reflected by the balustrades are bounced back to the center by the round wall .
The Imperial Vault of Heaven, the place to lay the memorial tablets to the heaven is to the north of the Circular Mound Altar. It is very similar in structure to the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests but is smaller. The Vault, made of brick and timber, is 19 meters high and 15.6 meters in diameter. It is surrounded by a circular wall of polished brick with an opening to the south. This is known as the Echo Wall(6) and is 3.72 meters high, 61.5 meters in diameter and 193 meters in circumference. If a person whispers close to the wall at any point, his voice can be heard distinctly at any other point along the wall.
Around the Hall of Abstinence are two imperial ditches and they are circled by a 163-bay walkway. The Abstinence Bronze Man Pavilion and Time and Memorial Tablets Pavilion are at he Celestial Terrace of the main hall. To add the solemnity of the occasion, the bells in the two bell towers at the northeast end were struck when the emperor prayed for good harvests.
Notes:
1. the Imperial Vault of Heaven 皇穹宇
2. the Circular Mound Altar 圜丘坛
3. the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests 祈年殿
4. the Hall of Imperial Zenith 皇乾殿
5. the Hall of Abstinence 斋宫
6. the Echo Wall 回音壁
Ditan Park is related with Tmple of Heaven.I simply introduce it to you.
Ditan Park（The Temple of Earth）, just north (and slightly west) of the Lama Temple outside Beijing’s north second ring road, is a 40 acre square of towering pine and cypress trees. It was constructed in 1530 during the Ming dynasty as a place where emperors of both the Ming and subsequent Qing dynasties could perform sacrifices to the gods for good harvests, auspicious weather and a stable nation.
Ditan is the Temple of Earth and complements the Temple of Heaven in the south of Beijing. The altar here is square, which represents Earth, while at the Temple of Heaven the altar is round to represent Heaven. The emperor would offer sacrifices to Heaven at the winter solstice and to Earth at the summer solstice.
The alter in Ditan Park has the name FangZeTan which means ‘Square Water Altar’， there is a moat around the altar, hence the reference to water, but it is currently unfilled.
While popular with locals for morning exercises, one will rarely see foreign tourists in Ditan Park. However, there is a popular Temple Fair held here during the Spring Festival.
Visited the many historical sites.of course, you have to listen to the voice of culture—-peking opera.
With a history of more than 200 years,Peking Opera is not a native opera of Beijing ,but a new opera type formed by inter-exchange between Hui troupe actors and Han melody actors that came from south to Beijng as well as absorbing the merits of several other operas popular in Beijing then .Paking Opera rooted in Chinese culture is quite different form Western drama.For first-time foreign viewers,Peking Opera,you will find everything about peking opera is so interesting.One morning you might find yourself in deep love with Peking Opera when you hear singing of Peking Operal.
Peking Opera combines music, acrobatic dance, and spectacular costumes to tell stories from Chinese history and folklore. Using abstract, symbolic gestures rich in dramatic meaning, actors represent personages from the heroic, divine, and animal worlds, often in martial exploits. The traditional features of the masklike makeup and elaborate costumes immediately identify the characters to a knowing audience.
Some information：
1.ChangAn Opera House
Tel：010-51233866
2.Hu Guang Hall
Tel：010-63518284
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