Notable Places
The Bai Ta (White Pagoda) is a 40 m high stupa placed on the highest point on Qiónghuá Island. Its body is made of white stone. Sun, moon and flame engravings decorate the surface of the tower. Destroyed in 1679 by an earthquake, it was rebuilt the following year, and restored again in 1976, because of an earthquake which occurred at Tangshan, near Beijing. A reliquary, secreted inside the structure are Buddhist Scriptures, monk's mantles and alms bowl, and the bones of monks (their remains after cremation).
There are several renowned Buddhist temples located within Beihai Park, such as the Yong'an Temple (Temple of Everlasting Peace) and the Chanfu Temple.
On the north bank lies the Five-Dragon Pavilions, five connected pavilions with spires and pointed upswept eaves, which was built in the Ming Dynasty.
The Nine-Dragon Wall lies north of the Five-Dragon Pavilion. It was built in 1402 and is one of three walls of its kind in China. It is made of glaze bricks of seven-colors. Nine complete dragons playing in the clouds decorate both sides of the wall.
Also on the north bank is the Jingxin Room (Quieting Heart Room). It is a garden within the garden, and covers an area of more than 4,000 m². Many small traditional Chinese gardens exist throughout the park.
The Circular Wall (Tuancheng) has as its main structure the Hall of Received Light (Chengguangdian), a spacious building with a double-eaved roof made of yellow glazed tiles bordered in green. Inside there is a 1.6 m tall Buddha presented to Emperor Guangxu by a Cambodian (Khmer) king. It is carved from a single piece of pure white jade inlaid with precious stones. The Eight-Nation Alliance damaged the statue’s left arm in the Battle of Peking in 1900.
In the Beihai Park, one could find Taihu rocks shipped from the Henan province and a variety of art collections ranging from jade jars from the Yuan-era to a collection of 495 steles bearing inscriptions by trees of hundreds of years old.
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