Garden of Virtuous & Harmony, Beijing

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Garden of Virtue and Harmony is located north of Hall of Benevolence and Longevity. This is an entertainment complex was built to Empress Dowager Cixi. The Great Stage is located in the center of the garden. The signboard was written as:

" Originally built in 1891 and completed in 1895, the Grand Stage is a complex structure comprising a three-storey building for performance and a two-story make-up building. The performance building consists of the "fortune, "salary," and "longevity" stages, where different operas and plays could be performed at the same time. There were also performance props such as a spinning board, a windlass and a high-pressure water machine, which made it possible to enact scenes of gods coming down to earth, apparitions fleeing underground and water spewing forth. This Grand Stage in Summer Palace, the Free Tones Pavilion in the Forbidden City, and the Clear Voice Pavilion in Chengde Summer Resort, Hebei Province, were renowned as the three great stages during the Qing Dynasty. Of these, the Grand Stage in the Summer Palace was the largest Distinguished Beijing Opera actors of the Qing Dynasty, like Yang Xiaolou and Tan Xinpei, performed here for the Empress Dowager"

The Eastern Veranda where the Empress and her important guests including princes, dukes and high ranking officials watched Chinese Opera here. This hall has displayed various use articles including dresses for the Opera, Music Instruments, and etc during Qing Dynasty.

In Chinese: 德和园 (De He Yuan)
In Chinese (Great Stage): 大戏楼 (Da Xi Lou)

Don't miss the stage shows !!