Jingshan Park

Jingshan Park is located in Jingshan Front Street, Xicheng District, Beijing, China, west of the Beihai, south and the Forbidden City Shenwumen across the street, is the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasty Imperial Garden. The park is located on the central axis of Beijing City, the park center Jingshan, once the commanding height of the city. In the three generations of Yuan, Ming and Qing, Jingshan and its affiliated buildings are not only a royal garden for tours, but also have multiple functions such as practice, suspension, sacrifice of ancestors, official studies, bowing, opera, religion. At present, the park covers an area of 23 hectares, the park is lush with pine and cypress, and the visitors are like weaving. It is a unique place in Beijing's imperial city. In ancient times, Jingshan and Beihai were all the old roads of Yongding River. Now Jingshan is located in a higher terrain, and it gradually becomes a mound after the Yongding River is rerouted. Some scholars believe that the planning of Linshuo Palace Palace City and Beiyuan during the Sui Dynasty was the predecessor of the current Jingshan planning. This Linshuo Palace and Beiyuan, the Emperor of the Sui Dynasty, were built in the Liao Dynasty to build the Yuyu Palace (now Qionghua Island in Beihai Park), and the remaining soil was piled here. [2] In the 19th year of the Jin Dynasty, Jin Zhangzong built Taining Palace on the south side of the place, chiselled Xihuatan (now Beihai), piled into small hills here, built a royal garden, called "Beiyuan". Its mountain is surrounded by two walls, and the mountain is built in the Guanglou, known as one of the 12 scenes of Jinzhongdu. [3] In the mid-13th century, the Yuan ancestor Kublai built the capital in the four years (1267), the mound area is located in the center of the capital, the core building of the palace north of Yanchun Pavilion, so it was set up as a "back garden" for the emperor to visit. The garden has a familiar area of 80,000 square meters. The emperor of the Yuan Dynasty was here to cultivate to show the world. At the time, the original Jin Dynasty hill was called "green hills"[4] as the name of the mound. It is also said that the Yuan Dynasty here is also called "zhenshan"[5]. Jingshan has always been a physical evidence of the study of the changes of the central axis in Beijing. Some researchers mentioned: "In the early 1970s, the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Beijing Municipal Antiquities Management Office, in order to solve the problem of the accurate position of the axis in the Yuan Dynasty Metropolis, they jointly carried out an archaeological exploration work in Beijing, and explored a section of 18 meters wide below the ground outside the north wall of Jingshan Mountain. The road relics headed north and south. At the same time, the large-scale building-earth foundation site was explored in front of the Shouhuang Palace in Jingshan Park. These archaeological discoveries can undoubtedly determine the 18-meter-wide road relics buried underground. It must be the central axis and its architectural foundation site that ran through the capital from north to south. This confirms that the central axis of Beijing City in the Ming and Qing Dynasties coincides completely with the central axis of Yuan Metropolis, but there are differences in the times in the starting point of construction.”[6] Of course, some researchers disagree.

The park is located to the north of the Forbidden City and its high altitude makes it a unique place to get a bird's eye view of the city centre.The focal point of the park is Prospect Hill, which was built in an unplanned way as it was formed by the accumulation of the earth that was taken out for the construction of the palace moat. After its construction, the park was destined for imperial use, but in 1928 it opened its doors to the public and since then hundreds of people visit it every day.

For me, Jingshan Park was nearly as the Beijing Children''s Palace when I was a child. The Children''s Palace took over some parts of the Jingshan. I had to go to there every weekend for my class.My best memory was riding the bicycle with my parents to there. At that time, my dad always be the guidance of us, we passing through many alleys which i''ve never heared about. Beijing fainted in the rays of the sunset, the old-gray-brick-walls were gradually wrapped around with golden voile, the summer-light-wind brings a special scent of the sandalwood, that''s my memory of childhood.

This park centers around a big hill topped by two pagodas. From these pagodas, you can directly overlook the Forbidden City. At the bottom of the hill are manicured gardens.

Jingshan Park is located north of the Forbidden City, next to Beihai Park. If you don't have much time, you can visit all these major landmarks in one day. If you don't want to see flowers, you can bring picnic supplies and enjoy your leisure time in this tranquil park. Jingshan Park is a public attraction.

Jingshan Park is located in Jingshan Front Street, Xicheng District, Beijing, China, west of the Beihai, south and the Forbidden City Shenwumen across the street, is the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasty Imperial Garden. The park is located on the central axis of Beijing City, the park center Jingshan, once the commanding height of the city.