Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
jade bowl said to have belonged to Kublai Khan. The white-jade Buddha in the hall behind
was a present from Burmese Buddhists.
From here, a walkway provides access to the island, which is dotted with buildings - includ-
ing the
YueguLou
, a hall full of steles (stone slabs carved with Chinese characters); and the
giant
dagoba
sitting on the crown of the hill, built in the mid-seventeenth century to celebrate
a visit by the Dalai Lama. It's a suitable emblem for a park that contains a curious mixture of
religious constructions, storehouses for cultural relics and imperial garden furniture. Nestling
inside the dagoba is a shrine to the demon-headed, multi-armed Lamaist deity, Yamantaka.
North of the lake
On the north side of the lake stands the impressive
NineDragonScreen
, its purpose to ward
off evil spirits. An ornate wall of glazed tiles, depicting nine stylized, sinuous dragons in re-
lief, it's one of China's largest at 27m in length, and remains in good condition. Nearby are
the
FiveDragonPavilions
, supposedly in the shape of a dragon's spine. Even when the park
is crowded at the weekend, the gardens and rockeries over the other side of the lake remain
tranquil and soothing - it's easy to see why the area was so favoured by Qianlong. It's popu-
lar with courting couples today, some of whom like to dress up for photos in period costume
(there's a stall outside the Nine Dragon Screen) or take boats out on the lake.
Around the Shicha lakes
The area north of Beihai Park is a tangle of
hutongs
- cluttered, grey alleyways which show
Beijing's other, private, face. Here you'll see poky courtyards and converted palaces, and
come across small open spaces where old men sit with caged pet birds. The network of
hutongs
centres on the two artificial
Shicha lakes
, Qianhai and Houhai. Created during the
Yuan dynasty, they were once the terminus for a canal network that served the capital.
There are a few notable sights in the area to the west of Qianhai, including the wonderful
PrinceGong'sPalace
and the former residences of celebrated writer,
GuoMoruo
, and
Mei
Lanfang
, China's most famous twentieth-century opera singer; further west again is a mu-
seum dedicated to esteemed artist
Xu Beihong
, while off Houhai's north side is the former
residence of
Song Qingling
, the wife of Sun Yatsen. You're unlikely to want to see every
single one of these sights; the palace plus one should suffice.
Much of the district has been recast as a heritage area and is full of restaurants, bars and
cafés. All the public toilets have been spruced up, and though they're still fairly rancid, many
(amazingly) now have disabled facilities. Still, stray away from the lakeside and the show-
casing vanishes quickly.
