Other Attractions in Beijing

Beihai Park

It took 13 years, from 1166 to 1179, to complete the first stage of this format royal garden Taining (Supreme Tranquility) Palace, and another three dynasties, the Yuan, Ming and Qing, before its hills were fully developed and the waters that cover two-thirds of its 68.2 hectares (170 acres) rested in their homes.

Today, it is centered on Qionghua (Gem) Island, where the white pagoda that symbolizes the park sits beautifully amid trees, pavilions, platforms and delicate design houses. Scattered around the park are the Tuan Cheng (Round town), Yong'an (Eternal Peace) Temple, the Paradise Hall and the Nine-Dragon Screen, one of China's few remaining wall-screens.

Grand View Park

A newly built park, opened in 1986 on the site of the Imperial Vegetable Garden, Grand View is a reproduction of the classic family garden described in one of China's most famous novels, The Dream of the Red Chamber, an elaborate soap opera written by Beijing resident Cao Xueqins (1715-63). The park has already served as the set for a Hong Kong TV movie of the book. Complete with a central pond, bamboo lodges, pavilions, arched bridges, towers, and halls, Grand View is a faithful modern version of the classic Chinese garden. It's a pleasant diversion if you are in the neighborhood.

Jingshan Park

Also called Meishan (Coal Hill), this promontory overlooking the Forbidden City was created from the excavations of the imperial moat in 1420. According to the principle of feng shui (Chinese geomancy), this hill would protect the Forbidden City from the evil spirits swooping in from the north, but it was on this hill that the last Ming emperor, Chongzhen, hanged himself from a tree before the Manchu conquerors could arrive (from the north, of course). Today, Jingshan is a pretty park that requires a steep walk from the Beautiful View Tower (Qiwang Lou), an exhibition hall at the southern foot, to the viewing pavilion (Pavilion of Everlasting Spring, wan chun ting) on its middle summit. The view over the golden-tiled roofs of the immense Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square to the south is justifiably a celebrated one, but there are also superb vistas of the Drum and Bell towers and the Back Lakes to the north. The pavilion's balcony fills up with locals enjoying the view, while the old interior has been taken over by a souvenir and snack outlet.