The Temple of Heaven was where the emperor of China, as Son of Heaven, performed the annual ceremonies of prayer for a good harvest. It was built in the early fifteenth century under the Yongle emperor, the same ruler who raised the Forbidden City, and its layout expresses a view of the cosmos: the altar is round, for heaven, set within a square park, for earth. The great Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, with its triple blue-tiled roof and wooden pillars, rests on a marble terrace and was built without nails.
The park around the buildings is as interesting as the architecture. Ancient cypress trees, some hundreds of years old, stand in rows, and in the early morning the grounds fill with locals practising tai chi, playing cards, singing, flying kites and dancing. The Circular Mound Altar is a set of three marble terraces where the emperor stood at the winter solstice, and the nearby Echo Wall is said to carry whispers around its curved surface. UNESCO listed the complex in 1998, and it remains one of the most visited sites in Beijing.
Riding in Beijing is a special case. The city is vast, with ring roads and multi-lane avenues, and motorcycle access is restricted in the inner districts; foreign visitors cannot normally ride without a Chinese licence and registration. Most visitors reach the temple by metro or taxi, and the nearby streets are crowded and busy. If you are in the area on two wheels by some arrangement, expect heavy traffic, strict rules and a lot of electric bicycles. Spring and autumn are the best seasons, with clear skies and mild temperatures, while summer is hot and humid and winter is cold and dry.
Beijing has fuel stations throughout, plus every kind of food, from Peking duck to noodles and dumplings, and the streets near the temple have tea houses and small restaurants. Arrive at opening time to enjoy the park in the cool morning light and to avoid the tour groups, and allow at least two hours to walk the grounds. The scent of cypress and the sound of old men singing in the park make a good start to the day.