Xuanwu Garden

Xuanwu Garden

Xuanwu Garden is a national AAA-level tourist attraction.

Xuanwu Garden is located at No. 12 Huai Baishu Street, Xicheng District, covering an area of 7.37 hectares. The site was originally the Shanguo Temple, which was rebuilt during the Ming Dynasty. By the Shunzhi era of the Qing Dynasty, it had become the foremost scenic spot in the capital and was listed as one of the “Eight Great Temples and Three Sacred Mountains” of Beijing. In the late 1950s, the woodland was gradually transformed into Xuanwu Park but was later destroyed by an earthquake. In 1983, it was redesigned and planned, and the following year it was reconstructed as Xuanwu Garden, covering an area of 73,700 square meters.

Covering an area of 73,700 square meters, Xuanwu Garden is a new-style urban park that blends classical architecture with modern landscaping art, featuring the style of a Jiangnan garden. It emphasizes elegance and tranquility, and includes five scenic areas: "Lilac Academy," "Pine and Bamboo Dripping Green," "Jade Shadows Layered," "Quiet Elegance Garden," and "Green Waves Flowing Sound." The garden gate is uniquely delicate, with a five-bay entrance flanked by scenic walls and brick carvings, giving it a simple and elegant charm. Upon entering, visitors are greeted by rockeries, ponds, and waterfalls. The phrase “revealing the mountain at the gate” uses the green hills to divide the scenery, creating a winding path through the forest. Beyond the rockery, the garden is divided into eastern and western sections. The eastern part features landscapes dominated by water, with the “Quiet Elegance Garden” and “Lilac Academy” as main scenic spots. These are adorned with rocks, clear pools, cloud walls, pavilions, terraces, gazebos, and bridges, lending the area a serene and refined atmosphere. The western section primarily showcases mountain forest scenery, complemented by scenic areas such as “Pine and Bamboo Dripping Green,” “Green Waves Flowing Sound,” “Jade Shadows Layered,” and “Awakening Lion Garden,” offering views of deep, tranquil, rugged, and wild mountain forest landscapes.

The most representative scenic area—“Garden within a Garden”—the Quiet Elegance Garden, forms its own landscape unit within Xuanwu Garden. It features eight scenes: the Literary Quiet Pavilion, the Cicada Chirping Pavilion, the Elegant View Gazebo, the Increasingly Quiet Pool, the Mandarin Duck Pavilion, the Lotus Bridge, the Moonlight Embankment, and the Elegant Island. The Literary Quiet Pavilion is surrounded by water on three sides, while on the left bank near the pool, a small hill is dotted with lush pines and cypresses, behind which the Cicada Chirping Pavilion is nestled, creating the poetic mood of “the louder the cicadas, the quieter the woods.” At the foot of the hill lies the Increasingly Quiet Pool, with a Mandarin Duck Pavilion along its bank. Behind the scenic area is the Lotus Bridge, which resembles a rainbow after rain. To the south is a lotus-shaped fountain pool, beneath which three lively statues of children playing in the water add a unique charm. Crossing the bridge leads to the Moonlight Embankment, south of which is a stepping-stone bridge composed of large rocks, closely adjacent to the water, evoking a sense of “water evoking distance.” To the east of the embankment is the Elegant Island in the pool, covered with dark green pines and adorned with a statue of a white crane. On a bluestone mini-landscape is inscribed the verse: “Delighted to see the evergreen pines thrive, even more pleased to watch the white cranes dance on the Elegant Island.” Behind the bridge, a small hill houses the Elegant View Gazebo, from which the entire garden can be viewed. The entire Quiet Elegance Garden features layered rockeries, uniquely shaped stones, and a peaceful, pleasant environment.

Starting in March 2007, Xuanwu Garden introduced various energy-saving equipment in the park, including rainwater utilization, water-saving irrigation, solar power, and shallow geothermal energy utilization. After the renovation...

...Xuanwu Garden has become an energy-saving park in Beijing equipped with comprehensive energy-saving facilities, and it is also an energy-saving park that utilizes shallow geothermal energy for heating.

Address: No. 12 Huai Baishu Street, Xicheng District, Beijing

Type: Urban Park

Phone: 010-63012158

Opening Hours:

Summer: 6:00–21:30; Winter: 6:30–21:00

Ticket Information:

Free admission.