West across the main road near Yonghegong (Lama Temple) Subway of the north Second Ring Road and down a hutong from the Lama Temple is Beijing's Confucius Temple and Imperial Academy. The Confucius Temple receives less crowds than the Lama Temple across the street and is a pleasant place to stroll, read or imagine all the hard study that took place on this site over the centuries.

Built in 1306, this building was split between a Confucian Temple (Kong Miao) and the Imperial Academy (Guozijian) where civil servants used to train for the exams that would launch them into court life. The Confucius Temple on the left of the complex is consists of four courtyards and houses 198 stone tablets that bear the names of more than 50,000 scholars who passed the imperial exams in the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties.

Now more of a museum, things still get busy at the temple when Beijing students prepare to sit the university entrance exams and come here to ask the sage for a bit of help.

CCC will guide you into this century-old peaceful compound and explain all about the architectural symbols and Confucius thought and its influence to China. Meet CCC guide in front of the entrance of the Confucian temple.