Beihai Park

BeihaiParkis an AAAA tourist attraction and a key historic site under national protection. Its east and south sides are close to the Palace Museum. It can be reached by many bus routes.
The park used to be an imperial palace serving for the emperors of five dynasties (Liao, Jin, Yuan, Ming, and Qing) and their families to stay for a short time, handle political affairs, or offer sacrifices. At the age of 800, it is the earliest built and best preserved imperial garden in the world.
It was called Yao Yu, or Jade Island, in the Liao Dynasty. In 1166, or the 6th year of Dading reign in the Jin Dynasty, a magnificent palace called Taining was built, an artificial island called Qionghua was created, and some Taihu Lake stones were moved here from the imperial garden of the northern Song Dynasty in Bianliang (present-day Kaifeng in Henan). In 1267, or the 4th year of Zhiyuan reign in the Yuan Dynasty, Kublai Khan had an imperial city called Dadu built around the Qionghua Island. He called the island Longevity Hill, and the lake around it Taiyechi.
In 1420, or the 18th year of Emperor Yongle’s reign in the Ming Dynasty, the state capital was moved from Nanjing to Beijing. The Longevity Hill and Taiyechi Lake were incorporated into the Forbidden City, and were collectively named the West Garden.
During Emperor Shunzhi and Qianlong’s reign of the Qing Dynasty, the West Garden was greatly expanded to its present-day scale. After the 1911 Revolution, it was opened to the public as a park. Since the founding of the People’s Republic, the Party and the central government, attaching great importance to protecting the park, have appropriated large sums of funds for its renovation.
The park, which creatively follows traditional Chinese architectural tenets and techniques, is a classical Chinese garden and a valuable cultural heritage. It covers 682,000 square meters, with a 389,000-square-meter water-covered area. Its layout–one lake dotted with three isles–embodies a Chinese mythology about the fairyland, and achieves an artistic blending of natural and cultural landscape. Two of the Eight Attractions of Yanjing (Beijing) are located here–Spring Shade on Qionghua Island and Autumn Breeze over Taiyechi.
The park has three major attractions–Qionghua Island, Tuancheng Island, and the north bank. The white pagoda on Qionghua Island has become synonymous with Beihai Park. In the shades of the willows framing the lake are many well-known scenic spots, such as Haopujian, Jingxinzhai, Hall of Heavenly Kings, Kuaixue Hall, Nine-dragon Screen, Five-dragon Pavilion, Chanfu Temple, and Xiaoxitian. There is a well-known children’s song that describes the beauty of the park:
Athwart the waves a boat we row;
Pagoda, trees and red walls, lo!
The park offers a variety of boating entertainment and holds exhibitions all the year round. It’s a wonderful stop for tourists.
Qionghua Isle: The isle is like a pearl at the center of the lake, offering composite attractions of gardening, architecture, and art. It is covered with lush groves of trees and many halls and pavilions. Its landmark is a white Tibetan lama pagoda. In front of it is Shanyin Hall, which houses a statue of one of Buddha’s warriors. The outer walls of the hall are adorned with 455 small glazed Buddha figures. The principal building on the south of the isle is Yong’an Lamasery built on the slope of a hill. It is complete with a bell tower, a drum tower, and three halls named Falun, Zhengjue and Pu’an which respectively house the figures of Sakyamuni, Zongkeba (the founder of Tibetan Buddhism), the eight Bodhisattvas, and the eighteen Arhats. To its west are Yuexin Hall, Jingqi Pavilion, and Qingxiao Tower. The former two used to be the place where Qing emperors handled political affairs, granted audience to ministers, read, and rested. On the 8th day of the 12th lunar month, Emperor Qianlong would ascend Qingxiao Tower with his mother and ministers to watch Bingxi, a ball game on the ice.
Tuancheng: This is the smallest ancient city building complex in the world, with magnificent, original halls and vigorous old pines and cypresses. Here there are three treasures: a jade urn dating to Yuan Dynasty, a 1.5-meter-high Buddha figure carved out a single block of white jade, and two pines conferred the titles ‘Marquis Shade’ and ‘General White Robe’ by Emperor Qianlong.
The Nine-dragon screen: This was built with glazed tiles and bricks of seven colors in 1756, or the 21st year of Qianlong. It is 5.96 meters high, 1.60 meters thick, and 25.52 meters long. On either side are nine large colored dragons flying in a sea of clouds. The large and smaller dragons on both sides number 635. It is a classic of Chinese glaze architecture.
The Palace Museum
Panjiayuan Antique Market
Honglingjin (Red Scarf) Park
Tuanjie Lake Park
Temple of Sun Park
Beijing Crab Island Green Ecological Resort
Dongyue Temple
Chinese Ethnic Museum