Thirteen of the 16 Ming... by zys1
Thirteen of the 16 Ming emperors and their wives and second wives are buried here. The thirteen tombs are Dingling Tomb, Zhaoling Tomb, Siling Tomb,Yongling Tomb, Deling Tomb, Jingling Tomb, Changling Tomb, Qingling Tomb, Yuling Tomb, Maoling Tomb, Kangling Tomb,Xianling Tomb and Tailing Tomb.There are three lakes west of the Imperial Palace: Beihai, the North Lake, Zhonghai, the Central Lake, and Nanhai, the South Lake.
The history of Beihai Park goes back more than 800 years. In the 10th century, an imperial residence was built here. When Beijing became the capital of the Yuan Dynasty, the first Yuan emperor, Kublai Khan, had the park splendidly designed. The large picturesque stones on the park grounds were brought here from the Imperial Garden of the Northern Song Capital, Kaifeng.
In 1651, the White Pagoda was built on the site of the ruins of Guanghan Palace which had been destroyed by an earthquake. Main attractions in Beihai Park are Round City, Jade Flower Island, White Pagoda,Wanfo Lou Tower, Nine-Dragon Wall , Iron Screen, Xiao Xitian Pavilion,and Chengguang Dian,etc.
