Covering an area of 2.7 million square meters, it is the existing largest ancient buildings for rituals to pay homage to heaven. In Beijing, the Temple of Earth for worshiping to the earth, sits to the north of the city, and the Temple of the Sun for worshiping to the sun, sits to the east, opposite the Temple of the Moon, which is for worshiping to the moon. Among them, the Temple of Heaven is the most bright and extraordinary building.

The Temple of Heaven was first constructed in 1420, the 18th year of the reign of Ming emperor Yongle，and was extended and renovated to be completed in the reigns of Qing emperor Qianlong. Its main buildings include the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, the Circular Mound, the Imperial Vault of Heaven, the Abstinence Hall, Divine Music Administration and the Department for Sacrifices.

The temple is divided into inner altar and outer altar. The former consists of Circular Mound Altar, the southern part, and the Altar of Prayer for Good Harvests, the northern part. The two altars are linked by 360-meter-long Red Stairway Bridge (Danbiqiao), with principle buildings clustered at the ends of the bridge. There are Circular Mound Altar and Imperial Vault of Heaven, and the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests and the Hall of Imperial Zenith in the southern and northern ends of the bridge respectively. The Red Stairway Bridge (Danbiqiao), also called the Haijue Avenue, is a huge brick trade route and also the main axis for buildings of the Temple of Heaven. Additionally, in the east of the bridge are annexes suit for worshiping of the temple, including Zaisheng Pavilion, the Divine Kitchen and the Divine Warehouse. In the west is the Abstinence Hall where the feudal emperors observed abstention before the rituals.