Beihai Park, Beijing

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We bought a ramen bowl and two Tsingtao's at the local deli near the entrance for our relaxing day at the park. They can fill you up with hot water for your noodles, too. Then go grab a seat with a good view and crack open your beer and chill as long as you want. Your only bother will be the person wanting to take your empties for recycling.

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Unfortunately we only had time to really pass through Beihai park on the way from the Forbidden City to the Drum tower, so only really spent half an hour there with a picnic overlooking the lake.
It was built in the 10th Century and has an area of over 700,000 square metres. Water covers over half of this area.
The main feature of the park is the White Dagoba on Jade island, which is a 130 ft (36m) Buddhist shrine constructed in 1651.
At the time of writing, the entrance cost was 10RMB.

The Nine-Dragon Wall lies north of the Five-Dragon Pavilion. It was built in 1756 and is one of three walls of its kind in China. It was made of seven-color glaze bricks. Nine complete dragons playing in the clouds are decorated on both sides of the wall.

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Beihai park is located close to the Forbidden City, about a ten minute walk west from the north gate, or if you are lazy a taxi ride will only set you back 12r (80p).

The park is a very beautiful and serene place with a vast lake directly in front of you as you walk in the main gates (the lake takes up over half of the site). This park was originally the exclusive haunt of the emperors and empresses who lived here in the winter palace. Now its open to anyone and everyone who requires a respite from the polluted streets.

There are water painters here for your entertainment (see photos) and relaxing long walks. We went on a Saturday and it seems so did everyone else. We were surrounded by a group of young students at one point, who all wanted to have a photograph taken with us. However it wasn't difficult to find a quiet place to sit and enjoy the scenery

You can go out on the lake too, and we hired a little motor boat for an hour.

There is a restaurant here too but you have to book in advance. Also there are plenty of stalls selling water - which you'll need a lot of if you go out on the lake in high summer.

This is worth spending a few hours walking around in. We weren't able to go up to the White Pagoda on the hill as it was under renovation (as everything is for the olympics) but no matter. It was fascinating seeing the refurbishment work going on - and the slight young girls working as labourers was surprising. Not exactly something you often see in the west.

Do visit this park, it is valuable a breathing space in the polluted city and worth a wander.

Beihai Park is composed of Tuancheng (Circulate City), Jionghua Islet, Eastern Shore Scenic Area and Northwestern Shore Scenic Area, with Jionghua Islet as the center. The small island is connected with other parts by a stone bridge and ferry boats.

Bejhai Park is in the city centre a little to the north of Gugun. In the X-th century governors Lao constructed the imperial palace surrounded by magnificent park. The big artificial lake (in translation- Northern sea) in the middle of which filled Nefrit island was dug. The lake gets waters from the river Jondin.

After new ruling dynasty Zin erected own "Forbidden city", Bejhai became a vacation spot and entertainments of an imperial court yard. During Yuan epoch the ensemble was updated and expanded. Bejhai became a residence of the Chinese monarches again.

This park in the center of Beijing has an area of more than 70 hectares with a water surface of 39 hectares. To its north is Shishahai Lake and to its east is Jingshan Park. The Palace Museum is to its southeast, a short distance.

The imperial court of the Liao Dynasty built a temperory palace on the site of present Beihai Park in the 10th century. During the following Jin Dynasty a lake was dug. The excavated earth was piled to make a hill. Around the lake and on the hill palatial halls, corridors and pavilions were erected. The imperial court of the Yuan Dynasty which came after the Jin expanded Jionghua Islet in the lake and made it the center of its capital Dadu City.

During the Ming Dynasty five pavilions linked with zigzag bridges were built in the northwestern part of the lake. During the regin of Emperor Qian Long (1736-1796) a large-scale project was carried on over 30 years, making the palace a grand imperial garden.

Beihai Park was transformed into a royal garden around a 1,000 years ago. This imperial park is set around artificial lakes and the finest example of a classical Chinese garden. It was once reserved exclusively for the imperial family. There are pavilions, temples, halls, and covered walkways, and you can rent a rowboat for the lake. There is a restaurant within the park which is said to have been Dowager Empress Cixi’s favourite. Her appetite could extend to 120 courses!.

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The ravages of time and subsequent emperors' desires changed the landscape of this little 'city' but not enormously. in 1669, an earthquake damaged the Chenguangdian, but it was rebuilt in identical form.
In 1746, Qianlong, who had a special affinity with this little place for some reason, landscaped the gardens and added a number of pavilions.
Perhaps the biggest change was when Ci Xi converted the Chengguangdian into an altar for the huge jade statue of Buddha brought back from Myanmar by the monk Ming Kuan.
Empress Dowager Ci Xi used to visit the Round City regularly, but in a rather curious manner. She would get the palace eunuchs and maids to set up a country market so that she could take part in cameos roles of real-life. (She did the same thing at the Summer Palace as well).
In 1900 the invading British and French forces damaged the giant Buddha, and many other objects were looted.
Some 50 or so years later, Zhou Enlai intervened to save the Round City from destruction when the road outside, Jingshan Qianjie, was being widened.
Today the Tuancheng is truly serene place, with some of the most graceful trees in the world sitting atop the terrace. The cypress was given the title "The Marquis of Shade" by Emperor Qianlong in gratitude for the shade it provided him over the years. Nearby, the stunningly beautiful lace-ark pine was named "The General" for unknown reasons. The Chengguangdian remains one of my favourite buildings in China, even though some of the styling is probably from the 1900s rather than the Ming period.