Beihai Park
Situated in the central part of Beijing, Beihai Park is one of the best-persevered royal parks in China with a history of nearly 1,000 years. First built in Liao Dynasty, it is one of the most exquisitely designed ancient parks in China, encompassing over 68 hectares (area of the surface of the water is 390,000 square meters). Taining Palace, a majestical building built up in 1179 in Jin Dynasty, followed the rules of" One pond with three mountain" and Tai Hu stones in the imperial garden of Beisong Dynasty were also moved to Qionghua Island. In the year of 1267, with Taining Palace as the centre, Kublai Khan built Dadu and included Qionghua Island and the lake around as part of the imperial city, bestowed the name of Longevity Hill and Liquid Pool. Ming Dynasty formally moved its capital to Beijing in 1420, and Longevity Hill and Liquid Pool became the imperial garden called West Garden for lying to the west of Forbidden City. The surface of the water was expanded southwards in the Ming Dynasty and formed three seas. An extensive rebuilding of West Garden was carried on during the reign of Qianlong of Qing Dynasty, and Beihai Park have come into being ever since. It was opened to the public in 1925. After 1949, the Party and the government set aside a huge sum of money to repair it, and listed it on the sheet of major units under the state protection. Beihai Park is a artistic masterpiece of classical gardens of China. The whole garden takes up an area of 68 hectares, 39 of which are the surface of water, and mainly consists of Qionghua Island, scenic zones along the east bank and the north bank. It inherited Chinese tradition of garden-making through the successive dynasties and was enriched by adopting all the strengths of the skills and techniques with which other gardens were made around the country. The park is one synthesizing the great luxury of gardens in North China and the gracefulness and colorfulness of private gardens in South China, one that holds splendid of palace and garden of emperor and solemn of religious temple together. Spectacular and unified, it really is a rarity of China's landscape art.
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