Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
PRACTICALITIES
»
Běihǎi Gōngyuán
»
6403 1102
»
ticket park/through ticket Apr-Oct ¥10/20, Nov-Mar ¥5/15
»
9am-9pm, sights 9am-5pm
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Xisi or Nanluogu Xiang
You can enter the park by its southern gate on Wenjin Jie, or the northern gate on
Di'anmen Xidajie. But if you're planning to move onto the Hòuhǎi lakes later, it makes
sense to enter from the south and exit by the
north gate
.
Jade Islet
Made out of the heaped earth scooped out to create Běihǎi Lake itself, which some attrib-
ute to Kublai Khan, and dominated by the 36m-high
White Dagoba
, which was origin-
ally constructed in 1651 for a visit by the Dalai Lama and then rebuilt in 1741 after being
destroyed in an earthquake, Jade Islet sits in the southeastern corner of the lake. You can
reach it by a land bridge close to the southern entrance, or catch a boat (¥10) from the
northwestern shore if you come in by the north gate. You can also hire pedalos (¥80 per
hour, ¥200 deposit) from here as well.
Yongan Temple
The principal site on
Jade Islet
is this impressive temple (included in the through ticket).
Enter through the Hall of the Heavenly Kings (Tiānwáng Diàn), past the Drum and Bell
Towers to the Hall of the Wheel of the Law (Fǎlún Diàn), with its central effigy of
Sakyamuni and flanked by Bodhisattvas and 18
luóhàn
(Buddhists, especially monks,
who achieved enlightenment and passed to nirvana at death). At the rear of the temple you
will find a bamboo grove and quite a steep flight of steps up through a decorative arch-
way, which is emblazoned with the characters 'Lóng Guāng' on one side and 'Zǐzhào' on
the other side. Head up more steps to the Zhèngjué Hall (Zhèngjué Diàn), which contains
a statue of Milefo and Weituo.
Pǔ'ān Hall (Pǔ'ān Diàn) the next hall, houses a statue of Tsongkhapa, who was the
founder of the Yellow Hat sect of Tibetan Buddhism, flanked by statues of the fifth Dalai
