Located in the southern part of Beijing, the Temple of Heaven is China's largest existing complex of ancient sacrificial buildings. It occupies an area of 2.73 million square meters and is three times the area of the Forbidden City. Built in 1420 together with the Forbidden City, it was visited by the Emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties for annual ceremonies of prayer to Heaven for good harvest.

The Temple of Heaven is a dignified complex of fine cult buildings set in gardens and surrounded by historic pine woods. The principle buildings include the Altar of Prayer for Good Harvests, Imperial Vault of Heaven and Circular Mound Altar. In its overall layout and that of its individual buildings, it symbolizes the relationship between earth and heaven – the human world and God's world – which stands at the heart of Chinese cosmogony, and also the special role played by the emperors within that relationship.

The Altar of Prayer for Good Harvest, 38 meters in height and 30 meters in diameter, stands on a round foundation built with three levels of marble stones. This towering triple-eave hall is under a three-story, cone-shaped glaze-tile roof in blue color crowned with a gilded knob. A circular wall of polished bricks known as the Echo Wall encloses the Imperial Vault of Heaven. The Circular Mount Altar, south to the Imperial Vault of Heaven, is where the emperor prayed to heaven. At the center lies a round stone called the Center of Heaven Stone that echoes when a visitor speaks loudly when standing on the stone.

The Temple of Heaven was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1998. It was described as "a masterpiece of architecture and landscape design" which combines philosophy, history, mathematics, mechanics, aesthetics and ecology. It is the most complete existing imperial sacrificial building complex in China and the world's largest existing building complex for offering sacrifice to heaven.

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