Beihai Park
 Beihai is an extremely popular park among Beijingers and tourists alike. Ti is very large(68.2 hectares), and almost two-thirds of it is a lake. The park sits in the center of Beijing,and it used to be the royal garden of the Jin, Yuan, Ming and Qing Emperors. It was completed in 1179. The park is rife with greenery and assorted pavilions, corridors and gardens abound.
Besides the lake, the main things to see in Beihai are the Round City, which contains a jade vase from the time of Kublai Khan;the Temple of Eternal Peace, the Nine Dragon Screen, which is really a 5-meter-high, 27-meter-long wall covered with glazed tiles carved into nine intertwining dragons;and the White Pagoda on Gem Island in the center of the lake. In summer, Beihai is an ideal place to go to escape from the blazing summer heat. You can paddle around in a bizarre assortment of boats. There are odd, duck-shaped paddle boats,and tow types of motor boats;three-seater reagular and one-person UFOs (you have to see it to understand). In the winter, the lake freezes over and Beihai turns into a huge skating rink. Within Beihai is also the famous Fangshan Restaurant, the bestknown of the Imperial Court style restaurants where you can eat Qing Dynasty type food, for a pretty penny. |
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