Temple of the Earth, Beijing

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The Temple of the Earth, also known as the Temple of Fang Ze, (also referred to as the Ditan Park) was constructed in 1530 by Emperor Jia Jing during the Ming Dynasty. The park covers a 40 hectares space outside of Beijing's second ring road. It once served as the place where emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties offered sacrifices to the God of Earth. Covering an area of 37 hectares, the square-shaped temple was built in light of some traditional beliefs and concepts in ancient China - "the heaven is round and the earth square". The altar in the centre of the Temple of Earth in Ditan Park is called Fang Ze Tan, or "square water altar" and used to be surrounded by water, but these days it is drained. On a north-south axis, the temple consists of 5 main buildings: The Fangze Altar; The Imperial Respecting House; The Sacrifice Pavilion; The Fast Palace; and the Divine Warehouse. It is rare to see foreign people or tourists in the actual Temple of Earth in the park. The Temple itself is actually a very small (and underwhelming - when comparing with the Temple of Heaven) but worth a visit if you have the time.

Open: 6am-9pm. Admission: RMB2 for Ditan Park and a further RMB5 for the Temple.