The Ritan is a

public park An urban park or metropolitan park, also known as a city park, municipal park (North America), public park, public open space, or municipal gardens (United Kingdom, UK), is a park or botanical garden in cities, densely populated suburbia and oth ...

located in Chaoyang District,

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. It is within the Jianguomen area. The nearest

Beijing Subway The Beijing Subway is the rapid transit system of Beijing Direct-controlled municipality, Municipality that consists of 29 lines including 24 rapid transit lines, two airport rail links, one maglev line and two light rail, light rail tram line ...

station is Yong'anli on the Beijing subway Line 1. The park was initially home to the Temple of the Sun (), an altar built in 1530 during the late

Ming Dynasty The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...

History

The altar was built in 1530 during the late

for use in ritual sacrifice to the sun by the

Emperor of China Throughout Chinese history, "Emperor" () was the superlative title held by the monarchs of imperial China's various dynasties. In traditional Chinese political theory, the emperor was the " Son of Heaven", an autocrat with the divine mandat ...

.The Sun Mural and Sun Altar at Ritan Park
''Drben.net'', 24 October 2017 The original Altar of the sun was a rectangular white-stone

dais A dais or daïs ( or , American English also but sometimes considered nonstandard)dais
in the Random House Dictionary< ...

covered with red glaze, and four stairways (north, east, south and west) with nine steps measuring in width and length, and in height. The temple had been destroyed and restored to reopen in 1556 to the public.Temple of the Sun (Ritan Park)
''Travelguidechina.com'' Upon entering the premises, the emperors would pass through the Heavenly West Gate and along the Sacred Way that led to the sun altar. The temple was abandoned in 1911. Its park was renamed Ritan (or Ri Tan) Park in 1949 and reopened in 1951. In the 1970s, the Ritan Park became part of the embassy district of the city. In the 1980s, the park was restored and expanded southwards with the Quchi Shengchun garden (or Yuxin garden), and the Sun Mural was installed in the park to commemorate the opening policies of

Deng Xiaoping Deng Xiaoping also Romanization of Chinese, romanised as Teng Hsiao-p'ing; born Xiansheng (). (22 August 190419 February 1997) was a Chinese statesman, revolutionary, and political theorist who served as the paramount leader of the People's R ...

and the end of Maoist policies. During the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

, it was selected as one of the three protest zones.

Description

The area surrounding the Ritan temple is now a public park, and the site features extensive gardens and a small lake. On the opposite side of Beijing, to the west, is the Temple of the Moon, located in

Fuchengmen Fuchengmen (; Manchu:; Möllendorf:elgiyen i mutehe duka), formerly known as Pingze Gate, was a gate on the western side of Beijing's city wall. The gate was torn down in the 1960s, and has been replaced by the Fuchengmen overpass on the 2nd Ri ...

. There is a Sino-Japanese Friendship Monument in the park, but it is hard to spot and not well indicated. The Shen Ku and Shen Chu is the place where the tablets of the temple were found. The Qinghui pavilion is the high point with a panoramic view of the park. Below the pavilion is a pond with rockies, a café (the Stone Boat café), much lotus... Many people visit the park in the morning to practice

tai chi is a Chinese martial art. Initially developed for combat and self-defense, for most practitioners it has evolved into a sport and form of exercise. As an exercise, tai chi is performed as gentle, low-impact movement in which practitioners ...

or other forms of physical or spiritual exercises. The park is free of charge and open 24 hours a day. Restaurants and snacks are available inside the park.Ian Johnson
At Home in Beijing
''Nytimes.com'', 1 May 2017

References

External links

* Chaoyang District, Beijing Buildings and structures completed in 1530 Major National Historical and Cultural Sites in Beijing Parks in Beijing Religious buildings and structures completed in 1530 Sun temples Taoist temples in Beijing {{Beijing-geo-stub

History

Description

See also

References

External links