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With 20 kilometers from Beijing downtown at the eastern foot of Western Hills, the 160-hectare Fragrant Hill Park is the most renowned one of all the parks tucked away among the hills in Beijing western suburbs, which is abundant in ancient cultural heritages with antique pavilions, attics and bridges scattering around.

 

The Fragrant Hill Park has a steep topography with undulating ridges, flying waterfalls and green forest dotted, where over 260,000 trees are planted and well-maintained, including over 5800 famous and rare ones, and you can truly feel the harmonious relationship between Men and Nature through listening to humming of insects and twittering of birds and watching skylarking squirrels. The flowers are in full blooming in spring, the weather is rather cool and pleasant in summer, the red leaves are aflame with color in autumn and the snow dominates everything in winter in the Fragrant Hill Park, highlighted by red autumnal leaves.

 

The major attractions in Beijing Fragrant Hill Park are mainly distributed in the northern, western and southern areas, which are known as the Lake of Spectacles, Tranquil Heart Studio, Bright Temple, Jade Flowers Villa, A Clear Day Snow Scene and Blue Cloud Temple, with the 557-meter high Censer Hill as the highest peak. The Bright Peak once served as a provisional palace for the 6th Panchen Lama of Tibet, the Tranquil Heart Studio is actually an antique and elegant courtyard in South China style, and the Blue Cloud Temple is roofed in a Qing-era nostalgic style.

 

In addition, the Fragrant Hill Park is well-equipped with modern and advanced service facilities, where you could take a 1400-meter long gliding ropeway to the hilltop (with a drop height of 431 meters), dine at the Pine Forest Restaurant and spend the night in Xiangshan Villa, what’s more, you can just talk a walk to the Botanical Garden of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing Botanical Garden and the Temple of the Sleeping Buddha in 20 minutes from the park. A few kilometers to the south and east of the park are Badachu Park and the Summer Palace respectively, both of which are worth of visiting during your Beijing travel.

Author: Yang Qingwei

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Initially built as a provisional imperial palace under the order of Emperor Qianlong in 1750, Beijing Summer Palace was descended from Qingyi Garden, which is celebrated all over the world for its imposing natural idyllic scenery, boasting the No.1 Sightseeing Site of China during the Qing dynasty.

 

Qingyi Garden (later the Summer Palace) has witnessed the vicissitudes of Chinese history, and it was ransacked by Anglo-French allied forces during the second opium war in 1860, reconstructed under the order of Empress Dowager and renamed the Summer Palace in 1888. Unfortunately, the history repeats itself, and the Summer Palace was savagely looted again by the Eight Power Allied Forces (Great Britain, the U.S., Germany, France, Russia, Japan, Italy and Austria-Hungary) in 1900 and renovated by the Qing government in 1903.

 

Located in the northwest suburb of Beijing and covering an area of over 290 hectares, the Summer Palace is composed of Longevity Hill and Kunming Lake, 3/4 of which is covered by water, and it was modeled on Hangzhou West Lake in design, fully combining the beauty of femininity from South China with the beauty of masculinity from North China, so it has become a pearl in Chinese art treasure trove.

 

The Summer Palace is generally divided into three areas, namely, the grand and magnificent political area, the leisurely living quarter area and the picturesque sightseeing area, and the former is represented by the Hall of Benevolence and Longevity, where Empress Dowager and Emperor Guangxu conducted domestic and foreign affairs. The main architectures in the living quarter area include the Hall of Happiness and Longevity, the Hall of Jade Ripples and Yiyun Hall, where the emperors lived with their concubines. The Sightseeing Area is mainly made up of the Longevity Hill and Kunming Lake, where the architecture complex towers in a splendid style, boasting the best-preserved and largest imperial garden in China.

 

The Summer Palace was announced as the first batch of national key cultural relics protection units by China’s State Council on 4th, April of 1961, and it was listed on World Heritage Sites by the UNESCO on 2nd, December of 1998, attracting millions of visitors from all over the world each year, and it’s titled “the Imperial Gardening Museum” by the art circle, from which you can take a bus to Beijing Fragrant Hill Park directly.

Author: Yang Qingwei

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My sister, Sherry and I will be departing Ottawa, Ontario, Canada on January 26, 2013 for Hong Kong. That day happens to be my birthday; what a way to celebrate my day!!! Our visit will last until February 12, so we will be able to participate in the Cinese New Year celebrations! We will be staying with Sherry's son and his fiance who have been in the city since August. Right now I am visiting sites to read about the history of Hong Kong and try to create an itinerary for the time we will be there. Lots to do to get ready! Leave a reply

The history of Beijing dates back to over 3000 years ago, and Beijing was initially built in the present Xuanwu District of Beijing in 1040 B.C., and it served as capital for over 850 years in various dynasties. Beijing has been the capital of the People’s Republic of China since its foundation on 1st of October in 1949.

 

Paleolithic Age

500,000 to 700,000 years ago, the climate was warm and the precipitation was abundant in Beijing, and the Peking Ape-men lived in cave dwellings in the southwest suburb of Beijing, boasting one of the earliest hominids who knew how to use fire. When the fire emerges, the ancient Chinese civilization begins.

 

Han Dynasty

Since the Great Unification by Emperor Qinshi in the Qin dynasty, Beijing has become a famous city. After the Buddhist introduced to China during the Western Han dynasty, it raced off in every corner of China, and the first Buddhist temple in Beijing was established during 1700 B.C., which was the precursor of Beijing Tanzhe Temple.

 

Sui and the Tang Dynasties

The Great Canal was opened under imperial order during the Sui dynasty with Zhuojun (present Beijing) as its north end. Emperor Li Shimin launched a war with Korea in 645 with Beijing as his headquarter, resulting in failure and withdraw of his troop to Beijing, where he ordered to build the Sympathizing Loyalty Temple (Minzhong Temple), the present Fayuan Temple, to commemorate the death in the war, and then Beijing was called Youzhou as an important military city and trading center in North China.

 

Song, Liao and Jin Dynasties
With the political situation falling into collapse after the Tang dynasty, the north minorities grew stronger day by day. The Chi-tan ethnic minority established Liao Empire in 907 with Nanjing (present Beijing) as provisional capital, and Nanjing was renamed Zhongdu in 1153 owing to the occupation of Jin rulers.

 

Yuan Dynasty
The rising Mongolian ethnic minority leader Genghis Khan seized Beijing in 1215, followed by the establishment of Yuan Empire by Kublai Khan who made Beijing as capital.

 

Ming Dynasty

Upon usurping the throne, Zhu Di (later emperor Chengzu) decided to move his capital north to Beijing in 1399 owing to its important geographical position, who also ordered to enlarge this ancient city on the basis of Yuan Imperial City, so most cultural heritages in Beijing such as the Forbidden City were remnants of Yuan dynasty.

 

Qing Dynasty

With Manchu people taking helm of the state, large-scale constructions were launched successively. Beijing was under attack by the Joint Anglo-French Forces during the Second Opium War in 1860, resulting in the ransacking of the Yuanming Garden (the Old Summer Palace).

 

Modern China

On October 1, 1949, Chairman Mao Zedong proclaimed to the world the birth of the People’s Republic of China with Beijing as capital, and tens of thousands people presented on the Tiananmen Square,  since when Beijing has taken a new look in all aspects.

Author: Yang Qingwei

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