Temple of Sun is an altar for emperors in Ming and Qing Dynasties to worship the God of Sun, one of the 5 royal altar temples in Beijing. Located to the southeast of Chaoyangmenwai Street, 10km from Beijing center, Temple of Sun Park is featured with fun, quiet, peace, elegance and beauty, renovated with several modern facilities on the basis of retaining the temple’s old culture.
The park now covers an area of 206,200 square meters. The altar, facing west, is a platform built in white stones. Every spring equinox, the emperor would come to the altar and make worship of the God of Sun. On the due west of the altar, there are 3 Lingxing Gates (a traditional Chinese gate form commonly used in altar temples and palaces); one Lingxing Gate is for the other three directions each. The Sacred Road over against the West Lingxing Gate is the necessary path of emperors for the worship. Jufu Palace is where the emperors changed clothes and had a rest. Besides the ancient architectures, some modern facilities are also attractive. There is the children’s playground, the fishing area, peony garden, the activity region for the aged, etc, among which the Graveyard of Ma Junlie is especially outstanding. Ma Junlie was the Beijing municipal party secretary, a close friend of former premier Zhou Enlai, and was killed and sacrificed to the country in 1928.
