| Beihai Park (daily 6am-8pm;~5, buildings ~10), a few hundred metres west of Jingshan on the route of bus #13 from the Yonghe Gong or #5 from Qianmen, is almost half lake in extent, and it’s a favourite skating spot in the frozen winter months. It was supposedly created by Kublai Khan, long before any of the Forbidden City structures were conceived, and its scale is suitably ambitious: the lake was man-made, an island being created in its midst with the |
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excavated earth. Emperor Qianlong oversaw its landscaping into a classical garden and Mao’s widow, the ill-fated Jiang Qing, was a frequent visitor here.
Today its elegance is marred by funfairs and shops among the willows and redcolunmed galleries, though it’s still a grand place to retreat fi’om the city and recharge. Most of the buildings (daily 6am-4pm) lie on the central island, whose summit is marked by a white dagoba, built in the mid-seventeenth celltury to celebrate a visit by the Dalai Lama, a suitable emblem For a park which contains a curious mixture of religious buildings, storehouses for cultural relics and imperial garden architecture.
Just inside the south gate, the Round City encloses a courtyard which holds ajade bowl, said to have belonged to Knblai Khan. The white jade Buddha in the hall behind was a present from Burma. The island is accessible by a walk-way fi’om here. It’s dotted with religions architecture, which you’ll come across as you scramble around the rocky paths, including tile Yuegu Lou, a hall full of steles, and the giant dagoba sitting on top with a shrine to the demon-headed, multi-armed Lamaist deity, Yamantaka, nestling inside. An exclusive
restaurant, tile Fanqshan, where decor, Food and prices are imperial, sits off a painted corridor running round the base of the hill. There’s a boat dock ileal’here, where you can rent rowing boats, or you can get duck-shaped pedal boats fi’om near the south gate - good ways to explore the lake and its banks.
On tile north side of the lake an impressive dragon screen, in good condition, is one of’ China’s largest at 27m long. The Five l)ragon Pavilions nearby are supposedly in the shape of a dragon’s spine. Over on the other side of the lake, the gardens and rockeries here were popular with Emperor Qianlong, and it’s easy to see why - even when the place is crowded at weekends, the atmosphere is tranquil.
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