Temple of Heaven

The Temple of Heaven (Chinese: 天坛; pinyin: Tiāntán) is an imperial complex of religious buildings situated in the southeastern part of central Beijing. The complex was visited by the Emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties for annual ceremonies of prayer to Heaven for a good harvest. The Temple of Heaven was inscribed as a World Heritage site in 1998 and was described as "a masterpiece of architecture and landscape design which simply and graphically illustrates a cosmogony of great importance for the evolution of one of the world's great civilizations..." as the "symbolic layout and design of the Temple of Heaven had a profound influence on architecture and planning in the Far East over many centuries."

The Circular Mound Altar (圜丘坛 huán qiū tán) is an outdoor empty circular platform on three levels of marble stones, located in Beijing, China. It is part of the Temple of Heaven.It was constructed in 1530, during the 9th year of the Jiajing Emperor's reign in the Ming dynasty, and enlarged in 1749 (the 14th year of the Qianlong Emperor's reign in the Qing dynasty).