Temple of Heaven, Beijing

The Temple of Heaven, located in the southern section of Beijing, is one of China's most famous and important Taoist temples. Ming and Qing dynasty emperors came to the Temple of Heaven twice each year to pray for good harvests. The complete temple complex symbolizes the relationship between heaven and earth, The complex has been restored at various times; the original layout is from the 1400s.

The building seen here is the most photographed part of the Temple of Heaven complex. The northern part of the outer surrounding wall is semicircular, and the southern part square, a pattern symbolic of the ancient belief that heaven was round and the earth square. The southern structure is the Circular Mound Altar, used to worship heaven at the winter solstice. The principal portion of this structure is the large round marble terrace named the Circular Mound.

This photograph bears the signature "BL Deng" in red paint at the lower-right corner.