Beijing’s Temple of Heaven may be one of, if not, the most iconic tourist sites in Beijing. Constructed starting back in 1406, around the same time as the Forbidden City and the other respective temples of the Sun, Earth and Moon. In 1918, it was finally made into public park and today, it’s a UNESCO World Heritage site. In ancient China, it was used primarily for the Emperor to conduct ceremonies in, praying to Heaven for a good harvest for the coming year after a long, private procession from the Forbidden City. The architecture there is built with that exact purpose in mind; almost everything in it is designed for some symbolic purpose relating to Heaven, good luck, nature, time, or something related. From the shape of the complex itself down to the amount and arrangement of pillars inside a specific hall, it’s a very symbolically designed area. There’s even sound design taken into account—one of my friends demonstrated that inside a specific area, the walls are designed to echo to make the voice of the Emperor sound louder and more powerful. However, like many tourist sites in Beijing, it’s also crowded with more people than you could possibly imagine, so the effect is pretty much lost to the amount of people in there these days. However, it’s still a fun fact to know and try out if you’re ever there on a less crowded day.
Since the building site has so much history, there’s actually much more to do in and around it than you’d expect other than just look at the halls and temples. There’s a great museum on the grounds dedicated to some of the more ancient history of the area, including archeological and anthropological research, along with some ancient artifacts. Replicas of famous relics, masks from ancient civilizations, small reproductions of excavated archeological sites and much more are all available to view. In my opinion, they add a great layer of context to the history of the temple itself, since most of the activities available to do in and around the Temple of Heaven consist of reading a few signs and looking at the buildings; a side trip to the museum adds a much more educational feeling. Additionally, especially as a foreign tourist, it’s a little hard to get much information about the complex unless you do some research before visiting or have a handy guide like I did (shoutout to TBC staff!) so I really enjoyed learning about some more facets of the area and history than I would have otherwise.
Beyond the temple itself, we also got to visit the Pearl Market in the area. While it’s a bartering market that sells pretty much everything under the sun, it’s most famous for its distinctive pearls. While we did not personally go bargain (pearls tend to be out of budget for most college students), the jewelry on display there was gorgeous. Anything you can imagine, pearl related or otherwise, was up for sale. There was even an entire store dedicated to just coral jewelry and sculptures (also well out of any of our budgets even with the distinctive bargaining of the Pearl Market, but gorgeous to look at anyway).
After the Pearl Market, we moved on to what is prevailingly my favorite part of these weekly explorations—lunch. I’d usually be ashamed to admit that, but the restaurant in question was Yibin, a Michelin Guide Restaurant in 2024–2026, so it feels appropriate to enjoy. It’s less so that I don’t enjoy the cultural parts of these TBC expeditions: if I didn’t, I wouldn’t write about them like I do or attend so many of them, they’re very interesting. However, I stand by my idea that food is one of the best ways to experience any culture, and Yibin was certainly no exception. It’s authentic Sichuanese and for a Michelin spot, far from high-brow or avant-garde in its presentation. It was just delicious local Sichuan dishes you could see in anyone’s home—spicy noodles, pork feet, duck blood, rice porridge and more. The experience was more than worth the long lunch wait. It was, of course, also well worth it for the good time and conversations with friends I got to experience in the process. I imagine that even back in the 15th century, the emperors of the day loved a good meal with friends after a long time spent in the Temple of Heaven.
By Jane Turner, Spring 2026
Beijing’s Temple of Heaven may be one of, if not, the most iconic tourist sites in Beijing. Constructed starting back in 1406, around the same time as the Forbidden City and the other respective temples of the Sun, Earth and Moon.
Another one of the more irreplaceable experiences we have in China as students is the amount of cultural exchange we get to participate in. While The Beijing Center organizes plenty of culture-based events, from tourist activities to arts workshops, there’s something about engaging with other people our own age in cultural exchange that’s really special.
Over this past weekend, some of our students enrolled at Minzu University of China took their annual Spring Outing – this year, to Gubei Water Town. Situated about a 2-hour drive northeast of Beijing, the April weather made it absolutely perfect to explore for a spring outing. It surrounds various canals and offshoots of Yuanyang lake.
If you ever want to get a taste of Old Beijing, by far one of the best ways is to visit the hutongs. They’ve conceptually been around all the way since the 1200s, and in their most modern forms exist as protected alleyways and streets surrounded by old traditional houses and neighborhoods in the heart of Beijing and are recognized in China to be an important part of cultural heritage in the city.