| Beijing's Parks tips and photos posted by real travelers and Beijing locals. • 49 Photos
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The North Lake Park was originally the private pleasure gardens of the earlier Chinese royal dynasties.
The lake, and surrounding parks, allow you to get away from the noise and pollution of the city streets.
You can hire a boat for an hour or two and just cruise the lake, perhaps heading up the steep steps to the White Dagoba to watch the skillful kite flyers, their creations soaring high above the city rooftops.
On the southern edge is the old Round City - once an island in the lake, with its views over the private government compund of Zhongnanhai. Below the Dagoba the Temple of Eternal Peace descends down the hillside in steps, right to the bottom.
Jingxinzhai (The Study of the Tranquil Heart) is still the quietest spot in the park, a small network of gardens, pools, rockeries and shrubs - a garden withinh a garden - where lovers come for a little peace.
Nearby, further pavilions, temples and courtyards provide space for teahouses, for contemplation and even a small art gallery.
In the spring, the park is awash with colour and fragrance, especially the stately magnolia trees.
The finale for your afternoon should be to sit in the Five Dragons Pavilion and listen to the old men and women play their ancient instruments. As the music gets going, elderly couples get up to dance in the small pavilions. These performances are better than any you will pay to see.
The best time to visit was during SARS, when the crowds stayed at home, hiding under their beds, but Beihai Park is a pleasure at any time of the year. Leave a Comment
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The far end of the Beijing Botanical Gardens is tranquil, and the Temple of the Sleeping Buddha is hidden among the trees as the slope rises up to the hills behind.
Not many people make it this far, preferring to stay near the glasshouses and the huge flower gardens nearer the gate.
This whole area is great for a picnic. Leave a Comment
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Close to the Summer Palace and Fragrant Hills is another well-kept Beijing secret - ther Botanical Gardens.
During SARS, parks and gardens were about the only places you could go, and this very special park has remained a favourite for our family.
China builds botanical gardens better than anything else, and the one in beijing is no exception. It is not a natural landscape, but the park is surrounded by the Western Hills and the park landscaping complements them.
Children can run free in huge expanses of meadow, can fish for tadpoles in spring and feed big fat lazy carp all year round.
Little glades, gardens and gasshouses show off the Chinese talent for making plants grow.
If you like gardens, you will not be disappointed, if you want a bit of space to leap around, then you will also enjoy this great big Beijing lung.
Fresh air, peace, a picnic, snoozing in the sunshine. Love it! Leave a Comment
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Just metres away from the crowds of Tiananmen Square lies the spacious tranquility of one of Beijing's best kept secrets, Zongshan Park.
Originally the site of an early temple, then the Temple of Earth and Grain in the Qing Dynasty, the park is best known by Beijing people for the small museum commemorating Dr Sun Yat-Sen, the father of Chinese democracy.
He was born in 1866 and died in 1925, and only visited the northern capital three times, but a special place is reserved in Chinese hearts for this thoughtful and passionate man. The simple museum (entrance RMB2) is held in the former emperor's hall (from where the emperors could oversee the religious rituals if the weather was bad). The basic outline of Sun Yat-Sen's life is explained in English panels, and the intelligent visitor will also be able to link some of the photographs (captioned only in Chinese) with the events mentioned. Note especially the autopsy report (in English). The wooden building itself is beautifully austere and a superb example of classic Chinese architecture, and dates from 1421.
The park is much larger than it looks on the map, and is divided into many different areas. The ancient cypress trees are a legacy from the earlier days as a temple, and in the north-east corner of the 'front garden' note where a scholar tree has grown up right through a cypress tree.
Other small gardens are well landscaped, and there are many pavilions, including one little octagonal one, where junior court officials would practice the elaborate and complicated court rituals.
You can get away from the Beijing crowds for hours or even a whole day in this rather special, secluded park. Leave a Comment
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Beihai Park is already off the beaten track for many visitors to Beijing, yet it is one of central Beijing's most historic locations and is a 'warmer' place than either the Forbidden City or Tian'anmen Square.
The White Dagoba is an obvious focal point for those who do make it to the park, but there is one of Beijing's best kept secrets hidden away underneath the approach to the huge white structure.
In alcoves and a network of underground tunnels on the south side of the Dagoba (three or four levels down from the top) are the most amazing series of murals.
I know nothing about these murals, except that they must be fairly modern (perhaps even within the last few years) because the quality of 'construction' of the murals is not particularly good (the paint has not been fixed into the plaster so it peels away too easily and is being damaged by salt deposits.
Whatever the age, this is a beautiful series of imperial scenes hidden away in the darkness.A number of statues have been placed in the tunnels as well. It isn't as claustrophobic as it may seem as the tunnels are very short - just a few metres away from daylight so you can see around easily. Leave a Comment
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After a few visits around the city, it's a nice idea to relax on a duck boat, pedalling while enjoying the sceneries...
It generally costs around 20 RMB/hour to rent a pedal boat. It is extremely relaxing on a sunny day... You can do this in most of the bigger parks like Beihai, Summer Palace or even on lakes like I did, in Houhai... Leave a Comment
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In Beijing, there are a lot of nice parks. Often, tourists would all go to Beihai Park, maybe because it's the biggest and most close to Forbidden City. Personnally, I think Beihai Park is so huge that it becomes impersonnal.
This Black Bambou Park (bambous are all green here, no black ones !) is small compared to Beihai Park but pretty big from an European point of view.
This park is nice and calm. There are of course a lot of bambous and small ponds, which makes the surrounding really relaxing.
The park is situated right next to the Beijing Zoo, on the west side and the entrance is 2 RMB. Leave a Comment
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There is a nice park not far from the TV Tower: Yuyuantan-Park. A small lake and nice flowers make this park very attractive to Chinese families. Specially in spring they gather here to take a photo with a blooming tree in the background.
It is located in the west of the city centre. Leave a Comment
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In one park, i don't remember which one, i could watch a friendly concert. People sang some french songs, but translated in chinese, very nice. Leave a Comment
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China's wonderful parks and lakes are now open to everyone but it was not always been like that. In fact, most parks were private gardens reserved for the pleasure of the feudal lords and mandarins who ran the country until the Sun Yat Sen republic of 1911. Leave a Comment
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