| The Circular Mound
Altar is one of the more important buildings and is a three-tier white
song terrace enclosed by two walls. Geometrically designed, the altar
has a taiji rock at the center of the top terrace. If you stand on
the rock and speak in a normal voice, your voice will sound louder
and more resonant to yourself than to others around you, because the
sound waves reflected by the balustrades and the round wall bounce
back to the center.
To the north of the Circular Mound
Altar is the Imperial Vault of Heaven where the memorial tablets
to heaven were placed. It is smaller than the Hall of Prayer for
Good Harvests but is very similar in structure. The vault, made
of brick and timber, is 19 meters high and 15.6 meters in diameter.
It is surrounded by a circular wall of polished brick with an opening
to the south. This is known as Echo Wall and is 3.72 meters high,
61.5 meters in diameter and 193 meters in circumference. If a person
whispers close to the wall at any point, his voice can be heard
distinctly at any other point along the wall.
Around the Hall of Abstinence
are two imperial ditches and they are circled by a 163 bay walkway.
The Abstinence Bronze Man Pavilion and Time and Memorial Tablets
Pavilion are at the Celestial Terrace of the main hall. Bells in
the two bell towers at the northeast end were struck when the emperor
prayed for good harvests adding to the solemnity of the occasion.
Included in the UNESCO world heritage
list in 1998.
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