Coming out of the east gate of Beihai Park and turning left will take you to Gongjian Hutong. No. 5 in the Fifth Alley of Gongjian Hutong is the Gongjian Ice Cellar. According to the "Collected Statutes of the Great Qing," the Qing court established a total of 18 ice cellars in four locations across the capital, managed by the Directorate of Waterways under the Ministry of Works, collectively referred to as "official cellars," which exclusively supplied ice for the imperial palace and government offices. The Gongjian Ice Cellar was one of them. The cellar faces east and is situated to the west.
The Hall of Three Rarities, located in the West Warm Chamber of the Yangxin Hall in the Palace Museum, was originally called the Greenhouse before being renamed the Hall of Three Rarities. It served as the study room of Emperor Qianlong (Hongli), the Qianlong Emperor, and remains the most prominent symbol of his time as the master of the Yangxin Hall. The plaque inscribed with the words "Hall of Three Rarities" by Emperor Qianlong himself and the handwritten "Record of the Hall of Three Rarities" are still hanging on the wall. The plaque is flanked by the couplet: “Embrace the past and present in thought; entrust deep feelings to brush and ink” (where “brush and ink” refers to calligraphy).
Lao She’s Former Residence, Address: No. 19 Fengfu Hutong, Dengshikou West Street, Dongcheng District, Beijing. Lao She lived in ten different places in Beijing before and after the liberation of the city—nine before and one after. No. 10 Naozi Fu Fengfu Hutong (now No. 19 Fengfu Hutong, Dengshikou West Street) was where he resided after the liberation until his passing.
The Beijing Natural History Museum is located in the Tianqiao area along the central axis of southern Beijing. It sits against the Temple of Heaven Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and faces the modern Tianqiao Theater, offering a unique cultural environment. Originally established as the Preparatory Office of the Central Natural History Museum in April 1951, it was officially named the Beijing Natural History Museum in 1962.
No. 19, Lane 3, North Xisi Courtyard House is located on Lane 3, North Xisi, Xicheng District, and is a small traditional courtyard residence. The main gate is situated at the southeast corner and is a single-room ruyi-style gate, adorned with brick carvings above the lintel. Inside the gate is a screen wall. The front courtyard, extending from the rear-facing rooms to the floral-pendant gate, is relatively small and rectangular in shape, known as the outer courtyard. The floral-pendant gate is one room wide,
The courtyard at No. 11, Beisan Tiao, Xisi is located on Beisan Tiao, Xisi, in Xicheng District. It features a traditional four-courtyard layout. Facing south, the west side houses living quarters while the east side is a garden. At the southeast corner of the courtyard stands a grand gate (Guangliang Da Men), adorned with brick carvings of flowers and auspicious motifs on the chiseled (chi tou) sections. Inside the gate, there are six wing rooms on the west and one on the east. Directly opposite the middle of these wing rooms is a single-eave and hip-roofed ornamental gate (Yi Dian Yi Juan Shi Chui Hua Men). Beyond this gate lies the inner residential area, which includes three main northern rooms with carved interior decorations, flanked by two side rooms (er fang) on each side, and three wing rooms (xiang fang) to the east and west. All rooms are interconnected by covered walkways (chao shou you lang) decorated with "pine, bamboo, and plum" (song zhu mei) motifs on the spandrel brackets (que ti). The rear courtyard contains three northern rooms with two attached side rooms, as well as three wing rooms to the east and west. At the very back of the compound is a row of fourteen rear enclosed rooms (hou zhao fang). The eastern section of the compound is a garden, featuring five northern rooms and six western rooms, all roofed with double eaves and connected by covered walkways. In front of the garden’s eastern wall is an artificial hill, atop which sits a winding corridor with four rafters (si leng juan peng pa shan you lang), linking to a pavilion and an octagonal pavilion. Originally, there was a large rockery in front of the pavilion, though only a small portion remains today. At the southwest corner of the entire compound, there used to be a corner gate, now bricked up, with a pair of drum stones (bao gu shi) half-visible protruding from the wall. In 1987, the site was designated within a protected area and construction control zone, with the protected area covering the premises of No. 11. Aside from the rear enclosed rooms, which are used as a recreational center for retired education officials, the rest of the property is used by the Xisi North Kindergarten in Xicheng District.
Introduction
Introduction Beijing Amusement Park is located in the prime central area of Beijing, adjacent to the Temple of Heaven Park, and just 3 kilometers away from Wangfujing shopping street and Beijing Railway Station. It is a national AAA-level tourist attraction. The park covers an area of 400,000 square meters, including 115,000 square meters of water surface, and features over 40 large-scale modern amusement facilities. ...
Introduction Located on Di’anmen Outer Street in Dongcheng District. The original site was the central pavilion of the Wan Ning Temple from the Yuan Dynasty. It was built in the 18th year of the Yongle reign during the Ming Dynasty (1420), later destroyed by fire, and rebuilt in the 10th year of the Qianlong reign of the Qing Dynasty (1745). Built atop a tall brick and stone platform, it features a hip-and-gable roof with grey tubular tiles and green trimmed edges, opens with arched gateways on all four sides, stands about 33 meters high, and is entirely constructed of brick and stone...
Destination Introduction The Beijing Postal Museum is located in Xiaobao Fang Hutong, inside Chongwenmen. It opened to the public on February 20, 1997, marking the 100th anniversary of Beijing’s postal service. The museum is housed in the former site of the Imperial Post Office of the Qing Dynasty, originally built in 1905. The building consists of a row of traditional-style single-story houses, with simple yet dignified interior decor. Its basic exhibition is titled “…”
Longtan Lake Park is located inside Zuoguanmen in Chongwen District, with the city moat to its south and east, and Zuoguanmen Street running through the lake. In recent years, a number of uniquely designed, elegantly styled classical garden structures have been built, making Longtan Park one of Beijing’s refined and modern garden parks. The park features 300,000 square meters of water surface.
A National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit. Located between Tiananmen and the Meridian Gate (Wumen) of the Forbidden City along Beijing’s central axis. Tiananmen is an important part of the ancient architectural complex of the Forbidden City, also known as the “Outer Gate,” and served as one of the main gates of the Forbidden City during the Ming Dynasty, as well as the main gate of the Imperial City during the Qing Dynasty. Tiananmen was completed in the 18th year of the Yongle reign of the Ming Dynasty (1420). The Tiananmen tower...
Yongdingmen Park (Chongwen Area) was completed in September 2004, with a total green space of 138,000 square meters. The green area is shaped like a ship, featuring rows of tree formations that complement the adjacent Temple of Heaven walls and Yongdingmen. The pavement and resting facilities are designed to match the style of the Temple of Heaven walls. In 2006, the park was recognized as
The Beijing Underground City — the predecessor of the Beijing Underground City was an air defense project, initially constructed in 1969. The underground city project took ten years to complete and was finished in 1979. It was divided into three defensive zones and connected in all directions across the urban area, forming a sizable network of civil air defense tunnels. Out of wartime preparedness considerations, starting from 196…
Beijing Qingnianhu Park is located on the west side of Andingmen Outer Street in Dongcheng District, Beijing. Originally a large pond, it was excavated into a lake in 1958, and by 1960, hills were piled up, roads built, pavilions erected, and bridges constructed, gradually forming a modern park covering an area of 169,800 square meters, with a water surface of 63,800 square meters and 16,000 trees.
Xihua Gate is the west gate of the Forbidden City (Palace Museum), initially built in the 18th year of the Yongle reign during the Ming Dynasty (1420). Facing west, Xihua Gate stands opposite Donghua Gate, with a stele for dismounting horses located outside. The structure of Xihua Gate is largely identical to that of Donghua Gate: a rectangular layout, a red city platform, a white marble Sumeru pedestal, and three arched gateways set in the center of the platform. The outer sections of the arches are square while the inner sections are round, and the door studs are arranged in nine vertical and nine horizontal rows. A gate tower is built atop the platform, featuring a double-eaved hip-and-gable roof covered with yellow glazed tiles, encircled by a white marble balustrade. The tower has a width of five bays and a depth of three bays, with corridors around all sides, and beams and brackets painted with ink-line “large-dot-gold” spiral cloud designs. The gatehouse was used to store cotton-padded armor and spike-studded helmets for military reviews.
The Hall of Preserving Harmony is one of the three main halls located outside the inner court of the Forbidden City in Beijing. It stands behind the Hall of Central Harmony and was built in the 18th year of the Yongle reign during the Ming Dynasty (1420). Originally named the Hall of Cultivating Virtue, it was renamed the Hall of Establishing Supreme Harmony after being damaged by fire during the Jiajing reign and subsequently reconstructed. In the 2nd year of the Shunzhi reign of the Qing Dynasty, it was renamed the Hall of Preserving Harmony, which means "to keep one's aspirations undistracted and maintain a tranquil spirit." This reflects the idea of focusing the mind to preserve harmony within the realm.
The Hall of Supreme Harmony is one of the “Three Great Halls of the East,” the largest existing wooden structure hall in China, commonly known as the “Golden Throne Hall.” It is located in a prominent position along the north-south central axis of the Forbidden City in Beijing. It was built in the 18th year of the Yongle reign of the Ming Dynasty (1420) and was originally called the Hall of Heavenly Praise. In the 41st year of the Jiajing reign of the Ming Dynasty (1562), it was renamed the Hall of Imperial Supremacy. In the 2nd year of the Shunzhi reign of the Qing Dynasty (
Donghua Gate is the eastern gate of the Forbidden City, originally built in the 18th year of the Yongle reign during the Ming Dynasty (1420). Facing east, Donghua Gate stands opposite Xihua Gate to the west. Outside the gate, there is a stone stele inscribed with the command for dismounting; inside, the Golden Water River flows from north to south with a single stone bridge spanning it. To the north of the bridge lies the Three-Gate Pass. To the west is the Hall of Literary Glory, and further south is the Grand Arsenal of the Imperial Guards. Donghua Gate shares the same structure as Xihua Gate.
A residence for imperial consorts during the Ming and Qing dynasties, it is one of the Western Six Palaces in the Inner Court. Located east of Palace of Eternal Harmony and north of Palace of Prolonging Happiness in the Forbidden City, Beijing. Originally built during the Yongle era of the Ming dynasty, it was first named Palace of Longevity and Prosperity, and renamed Palace of Gathered Elegance in the 14th year of the Jiajing reign. It was renovated in the 12th year of the Shunzhi reign of the Qing dynasty. The Palace of Gathered Elegance features a single-eave hip-and-gable roof, spans five bays, and has a front corridor. The side halls to the east and west are Hall of Nourishing Harmony and Hall of Delayed...