About 2km southeast of the Forbidden City towers Tian Tan, or the Temple of Heaven, where dynastic rulers in China used to worship the heaven. The temple plus subsidiary buildings and a surrounding garden covers an area five times the size of the Forbidden City.
The Temple of Heaven was built in 1420 during the reign of Emperor Yongle of the Ming Dynasty. Situated in the southern part of the city, this grand set of structures covers an area of 273 hectares. To better symbolize heaven and earth, the northern part of the Temple is circular while the southern part is square. The whole compound is enclosed by two walls, a square wall outside a round one. The outer area is characterized by suburban scenery, while the inner part is used for sacrifices. The inner enclosure consists of the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest and the Circular Mound Altar. The annex halls were symmetrically built on a 1.5-meter-high brick-and-marble terrace, to set off the loftiness and magnificence of the main hall. This unique building, 38 meters in height, is characterized by a cone-shaped structure with triple eaves and a top that is crowned by a gilt ball.
Heaven's Storehouse is famous for two structures with peculiar acoustic features, the Echo Wall and the Triple-Sound Stone. A mere whisper at any point close to the wall can be heard clearly on the other side, although the parties may be 40 or 50 meters apart. This is possible because the wall is round and hermetically constructed with smooth, solid bricks. The Temple of Heaven is also famous for its cypress trees - there are more than 60, 000 cypress trees in all, among which over 4,000 are more than one hundred years old, adding to the solemn atmosphere of the temple.
天坛在北京市东南部，崇文区永定门内大街东侧。占地约270万平方米，是中国现存最大的古代祭祀性建筑群。天坛始建于明永乐十八年（1420年），清乾隆、光绪时曾重修改建。为明、清两代帝王祭祀皇天、祈五谷丰登之场所。天坛是圜丘、祈谷两坛的总称，有坛墙两重，形成内外坛，坛墙南方北圆，象征天圆地方。主要建筑在内坛，圜丘坛在南、祈谷坛在北，二坛同在一条南北轴线上，中间有墙相隔。圜丘坛内主要建筑有圜丘坛、皇穹宇等等，祈谷坛内主要建筑有祈年殿、皇乾殿、祈年门等。著名的祈年殿在最北方，这是天坛内最宏伟、最华丽的建筑，也是想象中离天最近的地方。祈年殿的上下三层屋顶，均用深兰色琉璃瓦铺盖，象征天色。
坛面除中心的太极石是圆形外，外围各圈均为扇面形，数目也是阳数，象征九重天，天帝的牌位就安放在太极石上，象征着天帝高居九重天之上。圜丘坛的附属建筑有皇穹宇及回音壁。站在圜丘坛的中心叫一声，你会听到从地层深处传来的明亮而深沉的回响，这声音仿佛来自地心，又似乎来自天空，所以人们为它取了一个充满神秘色彩的名字：“天心石”。在皇穹宇的四周有一道厚约0.9米的围墙，你站在一端贴着墙小声说话，站在另一端的人只要耳贴墙面就能听得异常清晰，并且还有立体声效果，这就是“回音壁”。这证明500年前的中国人已经能够运用声学原理。
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