Gate and White Dagoba on Jade Island in Bei Hai Park Bei Hai Park is a beautiful park area surrounding a man-made lake just north of the Forbidden City. We walked here for our next adventure. Before our trip I bought a small guide book called "Top 10 Beijing" by D.K. Eyewitness Travel. We used this extensively throughout our trip and it helped us learn about the different sites and important parts to take note of. In Bei Hai Park, the mountain island is made from the land dug out to form the lake (surely quite a task hundreds of years ago). The White Dagoba was first built in 1651 to honor the Dalai Lama.

Dan and I entered the park via a side entrance. We climbed the hill using paths on the backside to then arrive at the main entrance. The posted map there indicated boat rides to the other section of
the park at the end of the lake. So, we hiked back over the mountain island only to find the boats were tiny paddle boats and not even available that day. We discovered that we had to cross the island once again and had quite a hike ahead of us to get to the other interesting sites within the park. Of course this was still after much walking in the Forbidden City. We were pushing the clock since we had other key places to visit later in the afternoon, but we were determined.
Not an unusual sight: Building with many small Buddhas We saw these guys, and their North and West buddies, many times during the week.

Buddhas and kings of the North, South, East, and West were frequent sights at many sites. The building above has hundreds of small Buddhas carved into the sides. The "Place of Serenity" below is appropriately named. A small lake filled with hyper, golden koi is surrounded by a garden of intricate rocks and bridges. This would have been a wonderful place to relax, but I was committed to our next destination.

The Place of Serenity

This wall, attached to nothing but the ground, is surely a key component of the feng shui of this area of the park. The tiles on the wall form images of nine dragons engaged in what appears to be a game like soccer or perhaps in combat. It is very colorful and we took more pictures than necessary.

At another point in the park, we found this bell tower (below). For some reason, the women sitting inside the base of this small tower wanted me to pay 2 Chinese Yuan to climb up to the top after Dan managed to sneak in for free. Oh, well. At least I could snap the photo while he had his turn to ring the bell.

 Colorful Nine Dragon Screen

Dan making noise

Continue to Temple of Heaven

 

Return to Beijing Home Page                                                                                                              www.abbymath.com ~ www.DanMcLellan.com
April 2009