The Qianmen area, to the south of Tian'anmen, offers a tempting antidote to the prodigious grandeurs of the Forbidden City - and a quick shift of scale. The lanes and hutongs here comprise a traditional shopping quarter , full of small, specialist stores which to a large extent remain grouped according to their particular trades. It's a part of the city to browse in, and a good place to eat, with one of the best selections of snacks available in the capital. Down Qianmen Dajie, once the Imperial Way, now a clogged road clustered with small shops, the Museum of Natural History contains a gruesome surprise and Tiantan , the ravishing Temple of Heaven, perfectly set in one of Beijing's best parks, is an example of imperial architecture at its best.