During holidays such as China’s May Day and National Day holidays, people usually visit famous attractions such as the Forbidden City and the Great Wall. However, these places will become extremely crowded during these holidays and it seems not worth visiting such places in these days. In fact, there are many other beautiful places worth your tour during these holidays in Beijing. At least, Yuetan Park is one among them.

Yuetan means Moon Altar, a place to worship the moon in ancient China. In the Zhou Dynasty (1046 BC - 256 BC) of China, the tradition that the ruler of the country worships the sun in spring and the moon in autumn had already appeared. The current Yuetan Park is located in Xicheng District, initially constructed in the 9th year of Emperor Jiajing’s reign in 1530 during the Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1662) and renovated during the Qing Dynasty (1636 - 1912). It is among the “9 altars and 8 temples of Beijing” but was discarded in the first year of the Republic of China.

In Beijing, Yuetan usually refers to this park. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Yuetan Park was located west of Nanlishilu and south of Yuetan Beijie. Among the main buildings inside the park mentioned in the documents of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the platform of the sacrifice altar and the wall of the inner altar have already been destroyed but other buildings such as Bell Tower, Tianmen, Jufu Hall, Shenku and others can still be found today.

Admission: 1 RMB

Opening hours: 6:00-21:00

Add: Jia No. 6, Yuetan Beijie, Xicheng District, Beijing 北京市西城区月坛北街甲6号