Although the Confucius Temples lacks the imposing grandeur of major sights like the Forbidden City, or impressive artifacts, it's actually one of my favorite spots in the city - mainly because its enclosed nature, location in the middle of quiet hutongs, and "slightly off the tourist trail" status makes it one of the only places in Beijing that feels like a genuine quiet haven, away from the maddening crowds. This not only gives visitors some respite from city life, it also gives some sense of what Beijing must have been like before it had 20 million people, the air became unbreathable and the city was surrounded by 18 Ring Roads.

History buffs will also be interested to know that the famous writer Lao She was denounced here in 1966, an incident that led to his suicide the following day. Fortunately these days the place is more peaceful.

Unless you want to just sit back and soak up the atmosphere, you probably won't want to spend a lot of time here, but it's really worth checking out, whether you are a visitor or Beijing resident. It's very close to Yonghegong, so combining it with a visit to the Buddhist temple makes for a good day. Then you can top off your sightseeing with a cuppa at Confucius Cafe down the road!

If you havent been here in more than two years i.e since 2008, its worth a trip back as they've restored the whole area and re-opened the original school area.

This is a nice short walk from the Lama Temple and is usually a nice quiet place to stroll around and sense the history of Confucianism. It also has a good bookstore selling english translations of classic books, however the souvenirs they used to sell such as pillow boxes are overpriced compared to the Dirt Market.

Overall, a nice quiet place to visit....

Went to the Confucius Temple about 5 years ago and remember liking it. Went back with visitors a month ago and discovered the area open to the public has been expanded. You can now wander around much more of the temple than previously, and the Guozijian imperial college to the west of the Confucius Temple is now open. It's been fairly well renovated to retain the old charm, and it's not overrun with tour groups. There's not a huge amount to see of the college, though the main hall gives you an idea of what it must have been like to be present when the emperor showed up on occasion to deliver a speech.

One star gets deducted for the disgraceful opportunism of taking a load of amazing statues of old officials and essentially using them as props in a souvenir shop. You walk around looking at these intricately crafted faces while behind them are awkwardly set up cabinets with vendors attempting to sell you jewelry and the like. The betrayal is almost written on the faces of the statues, which should be in a proper exhibition instead of this tawdry tat market.

Still, 5 minus 1 equals 4. Go along and see it next time you've got people visiting.