Shishahai Xihaiai Lake.

Shishahai Houhai Lake.

Shishahai Lake at sunset.

Hutong facing to the Zhongnaihai Central Government.

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Beihai was first built in 938 A.D., in the Liao Dynasty. In 1267,  Kublai Khan took here as the center of his capital and built his palaces very close by, now today they are underneath the Jingshan Hill. In the Ming and Qing Dynasty, Beihai was the inner garden and lake inside the Royal City, till 1925 it was opened as a public park.

Beihai was constructed based on the traditional Chinese mythological fairyland story: one lake and three islets, today only one kept (the one with the white pagoda), another one is the Tuancheng (used to be seperated by water), and the last one was merged with the bridge.

In the very south of the park, that is the Tuancheng City or the “City of Harmony”, where was the 2nd islet. It is 4.6 meters high and extended 276 meters in perimeter. In the center, that is a temple, but 2 trees  famous,  named as “General in White Robe” and “Marquis of Shade”.

The big Jade Jar by the center of here is also famous, it dates back to 1265.

This is the 1st islet out of the three holy islets, below the white pogoda is a temple named “永安寺” or the “Temple of Eternal Peace”

the Immortal’s Fairy Dew Plate from the Qing Dynasty

A view from the north side of the islet, at the left side of this photo, the stone was collected from Taihu Lake of Yangzhou, in the south of China

That is the temple on top of Jingshan Park

The Nine-Dragon Screen was erected in 1756, it was once the screen wall of a hall. The screen is about 25 meters long, there are nine dragons on each side of the screen.

Five-Dragon Pavillion

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A copy of traditional courtyard house in the Olympic Park.

Linglong Tower was the boardcasting tower for the game, it is about 132 meters high.

Bird Nest, offically as National Stadium. A panaroma view of its inside you can find Here.

Fencing Hall of National Convention Center, as we can konw from its name, it is transforming into a convention place.

Some more Chinese element.

A view to the Olympic Forest Park, it is very huge, take a tour of it on foot is impossible, it is free to visit, electric vehicles provided at the south part of the park, ticket costs 20 yuan.

A photo of the lake and the hill. The hill locates at the axis of Beijing as well, I am going to climb up that hill, but how to get across the water is a problem, I have to go right from here, and it takes quite a long distance before I found a bridge.

A View to the north part of this park, it is too big, cannot go that far.

A View of the lake.

A view to the Bird Nest and Linglong Tower.

The best way to visit here is subway, you can transfer from Beitucheng Station on Line 10 to the Olympic Branch, there are only 3 stops on this line:

1. Aoting Zhongxin Station (if you want to take pictures all the way from the entrance to the north), you will need to get off at this stop.
2. Olympic Park Station, drop you off just in the center of the main venues, very close to the Water Cube, and the Bird Nest.
3. Olympic Forest Station, that is the end of this line, drop you off at the entrance of the Olympic Forest Park, the park is free to visit, closed at 5 PM.

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The Shishahai area consistes of three lakes, the ‘Xi Hai ‘- West Lake, the ‘Hou Hai’ – Back Lake, the ‘Qian Hai’ – Front Lake.

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There are different versions on the story of how it got the name as ????Shi Sha Hai????, one of them says, there were many temples around these lakes, and Shi means ten (but could means many in Chinese), Sha means temple. The “Hai” in Chinese originally means Sea, but locally in Beijing the lakes downtown all are called as Hai, this was a tradition from the Yuan Dynasty, but still quiet confusing even for Chinese who are not living in Beijing.

All of the lakes are mainly from the nature, and that was the reason why the Capital was chosen to be built here. In the Yuan Dynasty, these lake were the north end of the nation transportation, the Grand Canal System, so we can imagine here was very busy, and the lakes were bigger and deeper.

Today, the Shishahai area is the only open-water area free of ticket, and what is more, as the downtown of the old capital, lots of cultural relics are kept:

Hutong, the traditional way of living, is very famous. The Hutong Tour is a must of everyone comes to visit. But the problem now is, there seems to be too many companies doing the same job, on the busy season, there are far too many tourists than the real locals.

The Former Residence of Late Madam Soong Ching Ling, the wife of Dr. Sun Yat-Sen. The residence was the garden of Prince Chun’s mansion where the Last Emperor Pu Yi was born. Now the main part of the mansion is still a government ministry.

The Royal Residence of Prince Gong, the former owner of the mansion was a very corrupted high official in the middle of Qing. The second owner was Prince Gong, the foreign minister during the late 19th century.

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The Park has an area of more than 700,000 square meters, with a water area that covers more than half of the entire Park. At the center of this Park is an island called Qionghua Island (Qiong Island for short). The perimeter of the Island is 1,900 meters and its highest point is 32 meters. In the north area of the park is a big pool called Taiye Pool connecting the other two pools with each other. As the other two pools are called Middle Sea and South Sea respectively, this Pool has another name of Beihai (North Sea).

There are many noticeable and important places in this Park that we suggest you to visit.

The first place is Bai Ta (White Dagoba). As you may find it in almost all the pictures that introduce Beihai Park, it could be called the symbol of Beihai Park. The body of the Dagoba is made of white stones which appear very pure and noticeable. It was built at the highest point on Qiong Island. The Dagoba has a height of 40 meters. Sun, moon and flame engravings decorate the surface of the tower. Destroyed in 1679 by an earthquake, it was rebuilt the following year. Again, in 1976 the top of the tower received damage by the effect of an earthquake which occurred at Tangshan City, near Beijing City. Hidden inside the tower are Scriptures, Buddhist monk’s mantle and alms bowl, and Sheli (the bones of monks with good moral thought and behaviors left after they are burned).

On the north bank of Beihai lies a famous scene, Five-Dragon Pavilion. As five pavilions are connected with each other by bridges, floating on the surface of the water like five dragons playing on the water, so Five-Dragon Pavilion got its name. It was built in the Ming Dynasty (1368 – 1644) and was repaired in the Qing Dynasty (1644 – 1911). It was an entertainment place for the emperors and their wives to go fishing or watch the moon.

Just to the north of Five-Dragon pavilion is Nine-Dragon Wall, one of three famous walls of its kind in China. Built in 1756 during the Qing Dynasty, the Nine-Dragon Wall was made of seven-color glaze bricks. Nine complete dragons playing in the clouds are decorated on both sides of the wall.

Also at the north bank of Beihai is Jingxin Room (Quieting Heart Room) is a garden in the garden. It covers an area of more than 4,000 square meters. Built in 1757, it was rebuilt in 1885 during the Qing Dynasty. There is a brook behind the Room, which divides the garden into front garden and back garden. There are many towers, bridges, corridors, artificial hills and pavilions in the garden. During the Qing Dynasty, Jingxin Room was used by the emperors, their wives and crown princes to rest and study.

There is also a restaurant named “Fangshan Restaurant” ocated at the north side of Qiong Island.”Fangshan” means that the foods and vegetables provided in this restaurant imitate those that were cooked in the court kitchen.Here, you can taste authentic palace foods. This restaurant was opened in 1925 by a worker that worked in the palace storeroom. That worker invited some cooks that worked in the kitchen in the Qing court to work together with him. In 1959, this restaurant was moved to the place where it now stands. It has received, from both home and abroad, many accolades from guests.

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The Summer Palace, originally named Qingyi Yuan or the Garden of Clear Ripples, was first constructed in 1750. The Anglo-French Allied Forces destroyed it in 1860. The Government of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) started to rebuild it in 1886 with funds misappropriated from the Imperial Navy and other sources. Renamed two years later as Yihe Yuan or the Garden of Health and Harmony, it served as a summer resort for the Empress Dowager Cixi. Known also as the Summer Palace, it was ravaged by the Eight Power Allied Forces in 1900. The damage was repaired in 1902.

Its major attractions–the Four Great Regions, Suzhou Street, the Pavilion of Bright Scenery, the Hall of Serenity and the Wenchang Galleries have been restored.

The Summer Palace is a monument to classical Chinese architecture, in terms of both garden design and construction. Incorporating scenes from surrounding landscapes, it radiates not only the grandeur of an imperial garden but also the beauty of nature in a seamless combination that best illustrates the guiding principle of traditional Chinese garden design.

In December 1998, UNESCO included the Summer Palace on its World Heritage List with the following comments:

1) The Summer Palace in Beijing is an outstanding expression of the creative art of Chinese landscape garden design, incorporating the works of humankind and nature in a harmonious whole;
2) The Summer Palace epitomizes the philosophy and practice of Chinese garden design, which played a key role in the development of this cultural form throughout the east;
3) The imperial Chinese garden, illustrated by the Summer Palace, is a potent symbol of one of the major world civilizations.

• Website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summer_Palace
  
• Official Website in English
• Ticket: RMB 30 Yuan
  Garden of Virtue and Harmony: RMB 5 Yuan
  Tower of the Fragrance of the Buddha: RMB 10 Yuan
  Suzhou Street&Hall of Serenity: RMB 10 Yuan

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Initial construction began in 1707, during the reign of Emperor Kangxi and was on a much smaller scale. It was intended as a gift for the emperor’s fourth son, later Emperor Yongzheng. In 1725, under Emperor Yongzheng, the Imperial Gardens were greatly expanded. Yongzheng introduced the waterworks of the gardens which created some of the lakes, streams and ponds which greatly complemented the rolling hills and grounds.

The Imperial Gardens were made up of three gardens: the Garden of Perfect Brightness proper, the Garden of Eternal Spring, and the Elegant Spring Garden; together they covered an area of 3.5 km?? (865 acres).

The Old Summer Palace is often associated with the European-style palaces built of stone. The designers of these structures, the Jesuits Giuseppe Castiglione and Michel Benoist, were employed by Emperor Qianlong to satisfy his taste for exotic buildings and objects. Sometimes, visitors unfamiliar with the former layout of the Old Summer Palace are misled to believe that it consisted primarily of European-style palaces. In fact, the area of the Imperial Gardens at the back of the Eternal Spring garden where the European-style buildings were located was small compared to the overall area of the gardens. More than 95% of the Imperial Gardens were made up of essentially Chinese-style buildings. There were also a few buildings in Tibetan and Mongol styles, reflecting the diversity of the Qing Empire.

Simulated Image

It was a tragedy that YuanMingYuan took so many years to raise to glory but only a few days of wanton destruction in 1860 to obliterate. Such was a painful waste for humanity, this fruit of man???s ingenuity, conceived as a Garden of all Chinese Gardens. Again, in 1900 the allied forces of the Eight Powers invaded Beijing and sacked the remaining buildings in the park. Many priceless artifacts that were plundered made their ways to the museums and private collections in Europe.

• Ticket: RMB 25 Yuan

• Website (in Chinese): http://www.yuanmingyuanpark.com

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A souvenir shop at the Great Wall

Summer Palace in the afternoon

Bronze pavilion at Summer Palace

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A nice but too hot day…

BBQ trout

Huairou reservoir

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A little hutong in the Shishahai area

Bars were full of guests watching the Opening Ceremony

A very beautiful night

Driving to the bar would not be a good idea

Fobidden City in the midnight

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