Yuanmingyuan, Beijing

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Huanhuanzhen is also called 迷宫，Mi gong in mandarin. It means yellow flower maze. This amazing site has been restored in its original look. This is my favorite site in Yuanmingyuan. It was totally surprised to me as I did not read about this site before I came. Basically, It is a maze that has a European style pavilion in the middle of the maze. It was not easy to reach the pavilion through the maze. I tries several ways to get in there with the helps of other visitors who already reached the pavilion.

The signboard was written as:

" To the north of the Xieqiqi building was a garden modeled on a European maze. The phalanx of Huanghua Formation was a rectangle, with gates on the four sites. At the center of the formation was an octagonal European Pavilion sitting on a high round foundation, meaning the sky was round and the earth was square. The phalanx was about 89 meters long from south to north and about 59 meters wide from east to west. The phalanx wall was over 1,600 meters long and about 1.2 meters high. Historical records indicate that on the evening of the Moon Festival each year in its heydays, the emperor would hold a lantern evening.

The phalanx wall and the European pavilion were restored to their original shapes at the former sites respectively in 1987 and 1989. "

In Chinese: 黄花阵 (Wang Hua Zhen)

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Xiyanglou is the reason most of people come to see in Yuanmingyuan Park. It is located north of Changchunyuan. This ruins site gave people the imagination the pride ancient European architectural buildings were built in Imperial Garden. You can see columns, walls, door decorative and etc remain in this protected site.

The signboard was written as:

" In the northern part of Changchunyuan once stood a European-style garden, commonly called Xiyanglou (European Buildings). The 70,000 square meter garden had over 10 buildings and courtyards, respectively called Xieqiqi, Xianfaquao, Huanghuanzhen, Yangguelong, Fangwaiguan, Haiyantang, Yuanyingguan, Dashuifa, Guanshuifa, Xianfashan and Xianfahua. Planning began in 1747 (the 12th year of the reign of Emperor Qianlong) and construction was largely completed in 1759 (the 24th year of the reign of Emperor Qianlong). It was designed under guidance of Italian painter Giuseppe Castiglione and French missionary Michel Benoist, and was built by Chinese craftsmen. The architectural style was Baroque and the landscaping was Le Notre. Its landscaping and architectural decorations also embodied lots of traditional Chinese techniques. In its heydays of Xiyanglou, the Qing imperial court made a set of copper plates, comprising 20 elevation perspective architectural drawings. Drawn by Yi Lantai, an imperial court painter from the Man ethic group, these copper plates were carved by craftsmen of the Imperial Workshop.
In 1860 when the allied forces of British and France burnt Yuanmingyuan to ruins, most of these European-style halls and pavilions partially survived because they had mainly built with stone materials. They continued to stay there for over a century, reminding people of the national humiliation. "

In Chinese: 西洋楼 (Xi Yang Lou)

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I lost my way to seek for the ruins of European Buildings. I passed by a lake with beautiful lotus plants and a long broken bridge that supposed to link to a small island. On the side of the bridge, there is a stone carving " Haiyue Kaijin" , I thought this was described in Chinese Poem about the beauty of this area. After reading the description, in fact there was a building complex named " Haiyue Kaijin" in that small island. Anyway, I browsed the Yuanmingyuan map, I could imagine how the building looked like.

The signboard was written as:

" Haiyue Kaijin (The Oceans and mountains opening their robes) is located upon a round island right in the middle of the lake north to Siyong Studio. Embraced by water in all directions, it is laid up with white stones along the periphery and enclosed by white marble rails. The main building on the island is built upon a round two-story altar. The bottom part of the altar is 80 meters in diameter and the upper up to 70 meters. Four docks can be found in the east, west, south, and north of the bottom part of the altar Resplendent and magnificent the whole building complex looks like a mirage. "

In Chinese: 海岳开禁 (Hai Yue Kai Jin)

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This newly restored ancient monastery of Tibetan Buddhism was built in 1773 during Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). This is the only surviving ancient architectural complex in Yuanmingyuan Park. The whole complex has 14,300 square meters, which 3,649 squares meters of the land is for buildings.

I walked through a small path road on the west side of Qichunyuan to reach this temple. First, I was very excited to see the only remains buildings complex in Yuanmingyuan. From the outside, it still looks ancient with its gates and walls, and old roofs structures. Once I entered the complex, I totally turned off by the smell of newly painted wall. They have beautiful building structures though. Currently, they have a exhibition for " The Miracle of Nirvana".

In Chinese: 正觉寺 (Zheng Jue Si)

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There are many ruined bridges in Yuanmingyuan Park. This one near the Jianbi Pavilion is an example of how ruined bridges look like.

The signboard was written as:

" In its heydays, Yuanmingyuan had nearly 200 bridges. This bridge was a stone arch bridge over a stream outside the west palace of the Fuchun Hall. What has been left over is a single arch, the only preserved old stone bridge after Yuanmingyuan was destroyed. "

In Chinese: 残桥 (Can Qiao)

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Jianbi Pavilion was the first place I visited, located near the South Gate of Qichunyuan. This pavilion displayed some historical pictures and information regard Yuanmingyuan. Since most of the buildings, pavilions, and bridges had been ruined, only pictures can show them how they look like in the ancient imperial period.

I believe this building was restored by the current government administration as it looks new. This pavilion is built on a small bay surrounded by lake with trees, boats, and bridges.

In Chinese: 鉴碧亭 (Jian Bi Ting)

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Yuanmingyuan Park is another historical imperial garden like Summer Palace. This Park is so huge that consists of three main sections, Qichunyuan, Yuanmingyuan, and Changchunyuan for visitors at this point of time. In fact, the park is more than these three sections, a lot of the places are still under restoration. Basically, most of the visitors are looking forward to see the Xiyanglou area (European Building area). None of the buildings, pavilions, bridges from the ancient Qing Dynasty remains. Only ruins pieces of European Buildings and Migong (Maze Pavilion) remain there.

During my visit, I found it confusing to locate myself using the signboard in the park because it was too big. The park was not very pleasant to to walk around because it was dusty and polluted as many sites were under constructions. Sometimes, dirty truck with smoke were around pedestrians on the side walk.

The park has beautiful garden and lake scenery with lotus flowers. You could hire a boat to cruise around the lake, and move around to see different sites. I have included maps that help you to navigate yourself in the park. Check them out in my travelogue!!

The signboard was written as:

" The Yuanmingyuan Ruins Park is in northwest Beijing. Being close to summer Palace, it is a theme park of special significance, built on the ruins of famous Yuanmingyuan imperial garden.
Historically, the imperial garden consisted of three gardens: Yuanmingyuan, Changchunyuan and Qichunyuan. Covering 350 hectares of land, Yuanmingyuan had nearly 100 famous scenic clusters. Beginning in 1707 (the 46 year of the reign of Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty), this imperial garden took over 150 years to built, spanning over five Qing emperors; Yongzheng, Qianlong, Jiaqing, Daoguang and Xianfeng. While countless skillful craftsmen were mobilized, hundreds of millions taels of Silver were spent. The garden was famous around the world for its vast area, fine landscaping art, elegant architectural style and rich cultural collection. When Europeans got to know the garden, they praised it as a garden of gardens and a model of world gardens. Unfortunately, this famous garden was burnt to the ground in October 1860 by the Anglo-French allied force, leaving a heartbreaking chapter in the history of China.
After new China was founded, the party and government paid great attention to protect the ruins of the imperial garden. They designated the ruins as a park land and a major cultural site under the protection of the central government. Thanks to years of renovations and repairs, a ruins park has begun taking shape. With most landscaping being restored, the park now represents southern China scenery, noted for hills and water bodies covered in mists. Tens of thousands of trees in the park are fresh and green, and seasonal flowers are as brilliant as the morning glow. While a few reconstructed garden architectures have suumed their past splendor, some important ruins have been protected and repaired. Today, these grand ruins clusters represented by Xiyanglou (European Buildings), are enlightening people on their sad history. "

Admission: Y25

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This must have been great in it's day but tragically is in ruin's, although still a very good place to have a look around and understand why this has happened! And aftrewards enjoy traditional Chinese tea and snack's with a little stage show which is really very good!