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As one of the most time-honored and best-preserved imperial gardens in China, Beihai Park is located in the center of Beijing with the Forbidden city to the northwest, functioning as an imperial garden in the Liao (907-1125), Jin ( 1115-1234), Yuan (1206-1368), Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1616-1911) dynasties, which is rich in poetic and pictorial splendor following to its unique design based on the Chinese traditional legend of "One Heavenly Pool and Three Immortal Mountains "(referring to Taiye Pool, Penglai Mountain, Fangzhang Mountain and Yingzhou Mountain).
Beihai Park was initially built in the Liao dynasty and the large-scale Taining Palace was constructed in the park in the Jin dynasty, on the basis of which Emperor Kublai Khan ordered to build Dadu (present Beijing) in the Yuan dynasty, and it was greatly expanded during the reign of Emperor Qianlong in the Qing dynasty, basically developing its present pattern. Beihai Park covers an area of 69 hectares with water area of 39 hectares, where the landmark is the White Dagoba in Yong'an Temple on Qionghua Islet, and the park has been opened to the public since 1925 and functions as China's National AAAA-Level Scenic Area now.
Beihai Park is composed of Qionghua Islet Area, the North Bank Area, the Circulate City Area, the East Bank Area and Beihai Botanical Garden Area, each of which has its own unique characteristics, and the popular attractions in the parks include the decorated Pleasure Boat Studio, the Calming Heart Studio, the Heavenly King Hall, the White Pagoda, the Swift-Snow Hall, the Nine-Dragon Screen Wall and the Little Western Paradise. The verdant cypresses and green willows set each other off in the park with pavilions and temples in a picturesque disorder.
Walking into Beihai Park from the South Gate and passing Yong'an Bridge, you will see two colored-painting memorial archways, one of which is called "Piling Cloud" and the other "Piling Green". Walk further, and Qionghua Islet is before your eyes, where the Yong'an Temple stands with its main architectures, including the Hall of Dharma Wheel, Pu'an Hall, Zhengjue Hall, the Bell Tower and the Drum Tower. You can climb up the Tibetan-style White Pagoda (5.9 meters tall) by ascending the stairs, whose body is bottle-shaped with a spire on the top, and the delicately-decorated Shanyin Hall is in the front of the pagoda, providing a rest place for the visitors. In the west of Qiongdao Islet is the Pleasant Heart Hall, where the emperors used to take a rest in the Qing dynasty, and the Jade Islet in Shady Springtime (One of the Eight Attractions in Beijing) is in the northeast of Qiongdao Islet as well .
Beihai Park inherits the essence of Chinese traditional gardening art and combines the bold and unconstrained style of Northern China with the graceful and restrained style in Southern China perfectly as one, attracting millions of visitors every year.