| Beihai
Park (13th century onward)
other
sites in Beijing |
Beijing, China |
Click on the above
images for larger views
Beihai park is just a few hundred meters northwest of the Forbidden City. Its main attraction is its topography. Most of Beijing is an unrelentingly flat plain, but Beihai boasts a large lake and a few surrounding hills decorated with restored pavilions. The artificial hills are believed to have been created in the Yuan dynasty by the Mongol Khans, who used the area as a basecamp. Nothing of the original palace survives except a large jar of green jade that was given to the Khan in 1265. Supposedly it stored his wine until Taoist priests appropriated it to store pickles.
The Beihai skyline is dominated by an enormous milk-bottle structure called a dagoba, erected first in 1651 and later in 1741 in honor of the Dali Lama's visit. Damaged in a 1976 earthquake, it has since been restored. Within it are believed to be centuries-old relics, including robes and jewelry of past Dali Lamas.
The park is worth a short visit, especially in summer, when you can rent paddleboats to cruise around the lake. However, it's fairly crowded since the admission is cheap and it's so close to the city center.
Bibliography:
All images copyright 1998-2002 Abe Ahn and Tim Ciccone
Final
image copyright 2002 Professor Kerk L. Phillips of Brigham Young University,
Utah, USA.
Visit
his webpage at www.pomosa.com
Storey,
Robert Lonely Planet City Guide: Beijing
Lonely Planet Publications, Hong Kong 1996