The Temple of Heaven sits in the south of the outer city of the old city of Beijing, east of Beijing Central Axis. It symmetrically faces the Altar of the God of Agriculture lying on the west side of the Axis. The Temple of Heaven comprises the inner and outer sections. The inner section is located to the east of the center of the outer section. The inner and outer altar walls are round in the north and square in the south, representing the ancient belief that "heaven is round and earth is square."

The structures and landscapes of the Temple of Heaven, along with the building forms, materials, and colors, are intended to express the ancient Chinese understanding of heaven. The temple's buildings mostly sit on high pedestals and are covered with roofs of glazed tiles of various shades of blue to symbolize the azure sky. The Red Stairway Bridge, several meters above ground level, links all the main buildings and rises gradually toward the north to create the visual effect of reaching the sky. Old and valuable trees, mostly cypresses, grow in the open ground in the temple's outer section to create a sense of vastness and a solemn atmosphere, characteristic of sacrificial ceremonies carried out in the suburbs.

During the Ming and Qing dynasties, the Temple of Heaven was the ceremonial space for the emperor to offer sacrifices to the "God of Heaven." Its layout has been altered several times to adapt to the changes in worshiping ceremonies. The Circular Mound and the Pray for Grain altars were the Temple of Heaven's core sacrificial altars with different purposes during the Ming and Qing dynasties. The Altar of Circular Mound was used for the ceremony of heaven-worshiping after the Jiajing reign (1522-1566) reign during the Ming dynasty. This ceremony was generally held on every winter solstice to express gratitude to heaven for its grace in the past year and pray for its blessings in the coming year. The Hall of Prayer for Grain was used for the ceremony of praying for good harvests. The ceremony was held in the first month of every spring. Today, the Temple of Heaven is open to the public as a park.