THE Altar of Heaven, according to ancient Chinese belief, was the center of the universe. But it was carefully placed in a remote corner of the city, as if to keep the greatness of the universe from interfering with the grandeur of Peking.
Peking was already more than 2,000 years old when one of its invading conquerors decided to make it a place of splendor. The Mongol Emperor Kublai, grandson of Genghis Khan, ordered the building of Green Mount, a hill that was dotted with evergreens brought from far and wide by imperial elephants, paved with a layer of green copper ore...
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