It was built for the emperors in ancient China to worship Heaven. There are two layers of walls arrounding the Temple, dividing it into two parts: the inner enclosure and the outer enclosure. Of both walls the northern part is semi-circular and the southern part square. The circle is symbolic of the heaven and the square the earth. Even the major buildings in the Temple, seen from above, are also round at the top with square bases underneath. The style derived from the ancient conception that the heaven is round and the earth square.

Qinian Dian (the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests)

Qinian Dian, a triple-eaved round ball, stands magnificently on a 3-tier round marble base. The three layers of radiating dark-blue-tiled eaves, tapering upwards from below, are surmounted with a gilded ball.

The Hall, 38 meters high and 30 meters in diameter, was built without beams and purlins. The heavy triple eaved top is supported entirely by 28 huge nanmu columns. The four columns in the center of the Hall are known as Longjingzhu (the Dragon Well Columns). Each measures 19.2 meters high and 1.2 meters in diameter. Two persons stand opposite cannot get their arms around it. These stand for the four seasons of the year. The twelve columns in the inner circle stand for the twelve months of the year and the other twelve in the outer circle represent the twelve two-hour periods of the day (the ancient Chinese divided the day into twelve two-hour periods instead of twenty-four hours).

The Hall is enclosed by lattice doors and windows instead of brick walls. This further shows that the wooden structure is strong enough to sustain the heavy load. The whole building is of high artistic value in structure, shape and application of colours.

Huangqiongyu (the Imperial Vault of Heaven)

The Vault, first built in 1530 and renovated in 1752, is a single-eaved round building covered by dark-blue glazed tiles on the roof. The Vault is 19.5 metres high.

The tablet of "the Imperial God in Heaven" was kept here and moved to the Circular Mound Altar to be worshipped on the occasions of sacrificial ceremonies.

Echo Wall

The well-known Echo Wall, 65.1 meters in diameter, surrounds the Vault. When two persons stand at the east and west ends respectively and whisper toward the wall, then can hear each other as distinctly as if they were talking over the telephone. Round wall makes this possible. Tourists who have made experiments are greatly delighted.

The Circular Mound Altar

The Circular Mound Altar was used to worship Heaven, so it was also built in a round shape. There is no building on the Altar as the heaven is an open space. To worship on the Altar was known as "open air worshipping". The Altar was first built in 1530 and reconstructed in 1749.