West of
the Forbidden City sits Beihai Park (beihai gongyuan) which
was originally built for Kublai Khan before the Imperial Palace
was even imagined. The scale of the park is appropriately regal
and the huge lake is divided into three parts: Beihai, the North
Lake, Zhonghai, the Central Lake and Nanhai, the South Lake.Dating
back to the Tartar Jin dynasty (1115-1234), Bei Hai lies to the
north of Zhong Hai and Nan Hai, which were also opened to the
public in 1925.
Entering from the south, you come to Tuan Cheng (Round City),
a small citadel on a raised platform whose most notable structure,
Chengguang Dian, houses a 1.5m (5-ft.) tall statue of a feminine-looking
Buddha, crafted from Burmese white jade. Crossing the Yong'an
Bridge to Qiong Dao Ahead is Yong'an Si, which provides further
evidence of the Qing emperors' devotion to Tibetan Buddhism. The
founder of the prominent Geluk sect, Tsongkapa, is the focus
of devotion. He is portrayed as a Chinese reformer of corrupt Tibetan
Buddhism, on the grounds that he was born in Qinghai rather than "autonomous" Tibet.
Beyond the conspicuous white pagoda, the north part of the island
houses the renowned imperial restaurant,
Fang Shan Fanzhuang.
Boats pull in to the east of Wu Long Ting (Five Dragon Pavilion),
where aspiring singers treat the public to revolutionary airs
popular in the 1950s. Off to the left is an impressive green-tiled
pailou (memorial arch; the green tiles signify a religious purpose,
in contrast to the yellow imperial tiles of the Forbidden City
and Guo Zi Jian). Continue on to the square-shaped Jile Shijie
Dian, encircled by a dry moat. Built by the Qianlong emperor to
honor his mother, the sandalwood structure is exquisite, topped
with a priceless gold dome.
The gaudy fiberglass statuary inside brings you back to the present.
Back to the west stands an impressive Nine Dragon Screen, which
guarded the entrance of a now-vanished temple. Further east is
the striking Daci Zhenru Bao Dian, an atmospheric Buddhist hall
built during the late Ming dynasty from unpainted cedar; topped
with a black roof (to protect the precious wood from fire), it
has a cool slate floor. Continue east to the northern exit onto
Ping'an Dadao, which marks the southern end of the Back Lakes
(Shicha Hai) area.
Beihai is a peaceful place to wander and do some people watching.
In summer, some ignore the No-swimming signs and dive into the
lakes. In winter, skating is a popular pursuit. My Beijing friends
all love this park and insist we visit it as often as possible.
These images mark two of my visits: with Angel and an unnamed
friend (2002) and with her two sisters, Brenda and Meixin, in
2004.
(Text blatantly ripped off from the web, especiallyhttp://www.frommers.com/destinations/beijing/)
