Ditan (The Earth Altar) was also known as Fangze altar. The altar is the second largest one of five ancient altars in Beijing. Ditan Park was built in the ninth year of Emperor Jiajing reign in the Ming Dynasty (AD 1530), and it was used to be the place where emperors in Ming and Qing feted the "Imperial Land God". The altar is also the largest one among the existing altars in China. The altar is shaped as a square and covers a total area of 37.4 hectares. The structure of building follows an ancient Chinese architecture rule of "round heaven and square land".

On June 10, 2006 Ditan Park was awarded as the "national heritage protection unit".

Travel tips:

Address: Andingmenwai Street, Dongcheng District.

Opening hours: 6:00 – 21:00

Entry ticket: 2 yuan

Transportation:

Bus: No. 18, 27, 104, 108, 113, 119, 124, 201, 328, 358, 407, 417支, 758, 803, 850, 858, 912, 415, 847, 849, 44, 62, 13, 116, 406, 606, or 807.

Tel: 86-10-84257506; 86-10-64216870; 86-10-64214657

Website: http://www.dtpark.com/

(China.org.cn. May 17, 2008)