Beihai Imperial Garden Walk

Tuancheng, or the Round City, is a circular fortress wall rising just outside the south gate of Beihai Park. Built into its elevated, walled enclosure are ancient halls, courtyards, and trees that have stood for centuries. The walls form a…

Yong'an Monastery sits on the southern slope of Qionghua Islet, a place that has served as an imperial garden since the eleventh century. You can identify the complex by the Tibetan-style white pagoda that crowns the islet, rising as the…

The Yilantang, or Yilan Hall, sits on the northern shore of Qionghua Island in Beihai Park. You can distinguish this complex by its long, winding white marble corridor that stretches for three hundred meters along the water, linking a…

Haopujian is a garden within a garden, tucked away on the quiet east bank of Beihai Park. You can identify the entrance by a modest stone archway, or paifang, which bears calligraphy carved by Emperor Qianlong. The garden was first…

Jingxinzhai is a walled garden nestled within the larger grounds of Beihai Park. You can distinguish it from the rest of the park by its scale and privacy; while Beihai is known for its grand, open lake and towering white pagoda, this…

The Nine Dragon Screen in Beihai Park is a twenty-five-meter-long wall covered in colorful, glazed tiles that depict nine large, writhing dragons on both its front and back sides. While many traditional screen walls feature designs on only…

The Wulongting, or Five-Dragon Pavilions, stretch out over the water on the northern shore of Beihai Park. You can identify them by their five interconnected, square-based pavilions, each capped with a colorful glazed-tile roof, which are…