Beihai Park in Beijing is one of the oldest, with a history of 1000 years, and most authentically perserved imperial gardens in China. Beihai Park was opened to the public in 1925 and in 1961 it was one of the first important cultural sites placed under protection by the State Council. The park occupies an area of 69 hectares including a 39-hectare lake. In the garden, pavilions and towers nestle amid the beautiful scenery of lakes and hills,grass and trees. Carrying on the traditions of garden landscaping of ancient China Beihai is a gem of garden art.

Beihai Park was first built during thje Liao Dynasty(916-1125), then rebuilt an renovated continually during the Jin(1115-1234), Yuan(1279-1368), Ming(1368-1644), and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties that followed, eventually becoming the beautifully landscaped garden we see today. Most of the buildings now standing were constructed during Emperor Qianlong's regin in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911 A.D.). As a pleasure ground for the imperial family within the Imperial City, Beihai Park was built to be more magnificent than any imperial complex outside the capital, including the Summer Resort at Chengde in Hebei Province and the Diaoyutai Imperial Lodge on the outskirts of Beijing.

Beihai Park is located in the center of Beijing and covers 71.4 hectares (176.5 acres), half of which are taken up by water. It borders on Zhongnanhai (Central and South Seas Lake) in the south, shichahai (Ten Temples Lake) in the north and the wooded Jingshan (Coal Hill) in the east. The majestic former Imperial Palace lies to the southeast.

The design of Beihai Park was inspired by a legendary story. In three fairyland mountains of Penlai, Yingzhou and Fangzhang along the East Sea, the immortals lived and a miraculous potion for longevity could be found. Both the first emperor of the Qin Dynasty (reigned 211-210 B.c.) and Emperor Wu Di or the Han Dynasty (reigned 140-87 B.C.) sent people over the sea to the mountains in quest of the potion, but all of them failed to find it. Longing for immortality, Emperor Wu Di ordered a large lake,which he named Taiye Lake,dug behind Jianzhang Palace in the capital city of Chang'an (now Xi'an in Shaanxi Province). Three islets modeled after the fairyland mountains were created in the lake from the earth that was dug out.

Later Chinese emperors also built lakes with islets near their palaces in hopes of living forever like the immortals. Emperor Yang Di of the Sui Dynasty (reigned 605-617) had a lake with a circumference of more than a dozen li (1 li equals 547 yards)built near his palace in Luoyang,Henan Provice.The three islets in the lake towered more than 30 meters(about 100 feet) high.Emperors of the Tang(618-907) and Song (960-1279) dynasties all did the same.Beihai,built as an inperrial garden behind the Forbidden City,also followed this pattern.Qiongdao(Jade Islet),Tuancheng (Round City) and Xishan (Rhinoceros Hill) Terrace in Beihaiwere shaped to resemble the three fairyland mountains;and all the towers,pavilions,odd-shaped rocks and caves, as well as the dew collector held by a bronze immortal located on Qiongdao, were created out of imaginations fired by the legendary story.

     

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