Beihai Park, Beijing

The best time to see Bei Hei park is when it opens at 6:30. It is a good place to see Chinese people doing their numerous morning activities like Taiqi, martial arts, ballroom dancing, playing musical instruments, Mahjong and Chinese Chess.
The entrance is CNY 30.
Another nice park is around the Temple of Heaven, Tian Tan Park. That is the park where I saw this man walking his bird, a humorous activity to see.

This is an interesting park around the North Sea Lake. It used to be a park for the emperors and khans of China, and all that remains from the Khan is a large green jade jar. The tall White Dagoba still stands at the park, which was built for the Dalai Lama's visit to Beijing in the 1600s. The park also has a fantastic restaurante with an "imperial" menu, called Fang2 shan4 Fan4 zhuang1. There are some more temples at Xi1 tian1 Fan4 Jing3, on the north side of the lake, very impressive! You can eat and relax at the park itself as well!! Note that the park is very crowded on the weekends and the admission fee is Y5, open from 6:00 to 21:00.

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.

Bei Hai Park /North Lake Park (including Bei Hai Kindergarten)
Photos in travelogue (details later, 2002-June-24)

Beihai (North Sea) Park is one of the most popular parks in the city of Beijing. It covers a total area of over 68 hectares, more than half of it is taken up by the lake. Early in the 10th century, the Liao Dynasty built a secondary imperial residence here, called Yaoyu or Jade Islet. When the Jin took over, they renamed the capital Zhongdu, meaning Central Capital, and built an imperial palace. Qionghua (Jade Flowery) Islet was built of earth dug out from the lake, and the rocks used for piling on the hill were brought from Kaifeng, Henan Province. During the Yuan Dynasty, the place was rebuilt three times, and Guanghandian or the Palace in the Moon where Kublai Khan used to live and many other palace buildings were built on top of the hill. It was in this palace that Kublai Khan received Marco Polo. Unfortunately it was destroyed. The Islet became the centre of Dadu (Great Capital) and is still situated in the heart of modern Beijing.

Don´t miss the main city park of Beijing, Beihai Park, the emperor’s winter playground. Stroll around the lake where weary urbanites get back to nature with rides on dragon paddleboats. Cross over to Jade Islet, bearing the White Dagoba, a 36-meter-high structure resembling a hand bell. If you see a bride, make a wish.

a buddhist stupa in the buddhist temple in Qiuongha Island in Behai Park