Beihai Park, Beijing

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Tacked on to the southern end of Beihai Park is a curious little place, missed by many as they rush in to the park and across the bridge to the island.
To the left of the entrance is the Round City, once an island, now solidly ashore, hugging the hard shoulder of the roadway outside. The cars, buses and trolley-buses and trucks rumble past one of Beijing's oldest sites, but inside the 5 metre high walls is a small compound apart from the rush of modern-day Beijing.
In true Beijing style, the history of the place is rich and complicated. While building the Daning Palace, between 1163 and 1179, the Jin emperor Shi Zong enlarged and excavated the lake to create the Qiongdao Island (on which the White Dagoba sits). Actually, strctly speaking he just enlarged an existing island - Yaoxudao.
It seems that the emperor hung up a picture of the Gengyue Garden, the imperial garden of the Song dynasty in Kaifeng, saying "This is what I want the place to look like!".
The Guanghan Palace (Palace of the Moon) was a key building in the Daning Palace.
When Kublai Khan captured the city of Zhingdu (as Beijing was then known, legend has it that Kublai Khan shot an arrow to the east of the hall and where it landed was chosen as the site for his new palace.
Later Kublai Khan a big hall here - Yitiandian - The Hall for Celestial Ceremonies and put up the huge retaining wall.
In those days, the Round City was an island. Kublai Khan's palace was across a bridge to the east and the palaces of the Crown Princes and the Empress Dowager across a drawbridge to the West. Tuancheng was linked to Qiongdao by a huge stone bridge.
In 1417, Ming emperor Cheng Zu repaired the delapidated Yitiandian and renamed it Chengguangdian - The Hall for Inviting the Light.
It was at that time that the lake immediately to the east was filled in again, so the Round City was no longer an island.

Beihai Park is a very nice city park on the Beihai (North Sea) in Beijing. For 20 Y, you can stroll around the park and up to through a series of Buddhist temples. You can also take a ferry across the lake to the north shore, where there are even more attractions including the Five Dragon Pavilion and Nine Dragon Wall. You can also meet many interesting people in the park. Knowing Mandarin helps.

I was brought to this beautiful Imperial garden called Bei hai Park in Beijing from the 1oth century which contains palaces, temples and a wonderful lake. The park covers 69 hectares and the lake covers more than half of that area and maybe that is why it is called Beihai which literally means "Northern Sea".

Chinese legend has it that Gods in three magic mountains called 'Penglai', 'Yingzhou' and 'Fangzhang' located to the east of Bohai Bay (to had a kind of herbal medicine which would help humans gain immortality. And so emperors sent people to these mountains to look for those conctions…did they ever find it?

There was a lot of people in the park when I visited and it was nice to people-watch. This was also walking distance from my hotel, so I ventured out one and just sat by the lake. I also remember walking through passageway flanked by trees that whose leave were rattling so crisply with the wind…beautiful place, Bei Hai!

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Beihai Park (North Lake Park) is the biggest of Beijing's parks and located in the heart of the city. Its White Dagoba can be seen from far. This Dagoba has been build during 17th century, when the 5th Dalai Lama visited Beijing. Beihai Park also features a big lake, some flowers and old trees. Pavillons give you a place to rest. There is also a Nine Dragon Wall and some temples. If you want to see an almost unknown side of the park you should walk along the Eastern side of the lake. Here you find small hills and corridors, where the local people gather to sing Beijing- Opera or play their instruments. Here you see Tai Ji groups and old people dancing the Tango.

In the North the landscape of parks and lakes is continued by Houhai-Lake, where you'll find a lot of old living quarters (Hutongs) and some lakeside restaurants.

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 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.

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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.

In the centre of Beijing north of the Forbidden City lies an imperial garden – today's public park Beihai ("North See" in Chinese). It is oppen from 6 am to 8.30 pm. Entrance fee is 10 RMB (5 for students - but you have to be persistent).
Beihai Lake covers almost half of the park area. There are beautiful vistas from the lake shore and from the island in the middle. On the highest point of the island is Bai Ta (White Dagoba) the symbol of the park. It is especially nice there in the evening, when crowds of tourists leave the place and it is left to the local people strolling around, playing Chinese chess, writing on the paving with a brush and water...
After the walk through the park you can stroll by the channel to the north (near the Bell and Drum Tower) and have a drink at one of the channel's very popular, very posh (and expensive) bars.