Temple of Heaven

	In Beijing, we also toured the Temple of Heaven, which was a private religious complex for the emperor and empress. Here they worshiped Heaven and the Gods of Agriculture, in order to protect China and ensure prosperity.
	Central to the Temple of Heaven is a mysterious round, open space, set off by "heavenly" gates. Exactly what rituals they performed there, no one seems to know (or at least not our tour guides). It is well-protected within the Temple of Heaven complex, so that no prying eyes will see the ceremonies. Have you noticed that most of the entrances to temples and palaces have three doorways? The middle one was for the emperor, the right one was for the high court officials, and the left one was for the empress.
	Here is the view from the top of the center of the Heavenly Court. One particularly important ceremony was conducted at night during the solstice, with fires blazing in the cast iron cauldrons.
	There are many buildings, courtyards and smaller temples, with poetic names like Hall of Serenity and Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests.
	This is the Imperial Vault of Heaven. Note the Emperor's ramp leading up the steps. In some halls both the emperor and empress worshiped Heaven, and in some just the emperor and his officials.
	The Halls were very dark inside, so taking a decent picture was impossible. But, here's a picture of a good picture of the ceiling!
	The Imperial Vault of Heaven is flanked by two identical structures, creating a symmetrical (and therefore harmonious) effect. One is the Hall of Central Harmony, and the other is the Hall of Extended Harmony.
	And this is the Hall of Sweaty Tourists. The weather was VERY hot and humid. Although it was overcast (or maybe that was just normal Beijing smog), it did not rain. We used our umbrellas as parasols, and fanned ourselves desperately.
	Ceremonial temple buildings often had special stone ramps, which only the emperor and empress could use. All others had to use the steps. The emperor's ramp had a dragon motif. Dragons were considered quintessentially male.
	The Empress's motif was a phoenix. The regenerative power of the phoenix symbolized fertility, obviously a feminine trait. When the emperor and empress (who were considered divine) walked up the ramps, they were considered to be ascending into heaven. As divinities in heaven, they could protect China and ensure continued prosperity.
	Another Hall of Something or Other. (Actually, it's the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests.) By this point, were were struggling a bit to pay attention. We wished we had more time, but we did see an amazing amount of stuff in a relatively few short days. We left the hotel at about 7:00 almost every morning (occasionally earlier), and returned around 8:00 at night or later.
	This area was recently restored, and looked fabulous. The motif here incorporates the dragon (emperor) and phoenix (empress).
	We felt like we were being run ragged (and it took most of us a a month to recover and reset our internal clocks after we got home), but how often does one get to China? We were trying to do and see as much as possible, in just a few days.