Beihai Park

With the Forbidden City and Jingshan Park to its east, Zhong Nan Hai (Central and South Seas) to its south, Beihai (North Sea) Park is one of the oldest, largest and best-preserved ancient imperial gardens in China located in the center of Beijing. This ancient garden, with over 1,000 years' history, is not only a classic combination of the grandiosity of the northern gardens and the refinement of the southern gardens in China, but also a perfect integration of magnificent imperial palaces and solemn religious constructions.

History and Extension of Beihai Park
Beihai Park enjoys a long history since Liao Dynasty in ancient China. In the 10th century, the imperial court of Liao Dynasty built a temporary palace at the place of present Beihai Park. During the period of the following Jin Dynasty, there dug a big lake and made a hill by the excavated earth. On the hill and around the lake, they built the palaces, pavilions, corridors and also planted trees. Later during Yuan Dynasty the imperial court expanded Jionghua Islet and made it as the center of the capital. In Ming Dynasty, the Five Pavilions were built, linked with the bridges located in the northwest bank of the lake. In Qing Dynasty, during the region of Qianling Emperor, over 30 years of hard work, the grand Imperial Garden – Beihai Park we saw today was birth.

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. There are many famous and beautiful places you should not miss when touring Beihai Park:Quiet Heart (Jingxin) Studio, Nine-Dragon Screen, Five-Dragon Pavilions, etc. Within Beihai is also the famous Fangshan Restaurant, the bestknown of the Imperial Court style restaurants where you can eat Qing Dynasty type food, for a pretty penny.

White Dagoba
On top of the Jade Flowery Islet, the White Dagoba was built in 1651 on the former site of the Palace in the Moon where Kublai Khan received Marco Polo. At the suggestion of a famous Tibetan lama, Emperor Shunzhi, the first emperor of the Qing Dynasty agreed to build such a Tibetan dagoba to show his belief in Buddhism and his desire for the unification among various Chinese ethnic groups. The White Dagoba was destroyed in an earthquake and reconstructed twice. Now, resting on a huge stone base, it stands 35.9 meters (about 118 feet) high and is capped by two bronze umbrella-like canopies, with 14 bronze bells hanging around them. Inside, the dagoba holds the Buddhist Scriptures, the monk's mantle and alms bowl and two pieces of Sarira. Since the White Dagoba is the highest point in Beihai Park, it served as a vantage point with a beautiful view of the whole park.
In front of the White Dagoba is the White Dagoba Temple. There are several other buildings and halls you could visit if you have enough time. These include Zhengjue Hall, the Bell and Drum Towers, the Stone Tablets of 'Qiongdao Chunyin' (means the beautiful scenery of the Jade Flowery Islet in spring; inscribed by Emperor Qianlong of Qing Dynasty) etc, all scattered on the slope of the Qionghua Islet.

Nine-Dragon Screen
To the northwest lies the well-known Nine-Dragon Screen, which is the only screen having nine huge dragons on both sides among the most famous three Nine-Dragon Screens in China (the other two are respectively in the Forbidden City and Datong, Shanxi Province). Built in 1756, the Nine-Dragon Screen is about 27 meters (about 88.6 feet) long, 6.65 meters (about 21.8 feet) high and 1.42 meters (4.66 feet) thick. It is composed of 424 seven-color glazed tiles that embossing the screen. There are nine huge coiling dragons on each side of the screen and big or small dragons in different postures decorating the two ends and the eaves, making a surprising total of 635 dragons. Even after 200 years, the Nine-Dragon Screen is still bright in color and complete in appearance, showing the high techniques of Chinese arts and crafts in ancient times.