In and Around Beihai Park

There is no better place for a fruitful glimpse of Beijing's past than Xicheng District's Beihai Park, though it's true that internationally famous sites such as the nearby Forbidden City -- for centuries the home of the last two dynasties' imperial families -- and the equally fascinating Ming Dynasty emperors' and empresses' tombs north of downtown, offer much that is largely unknown unless one digs into their separate pages of history.

Far less famous than either, and certainly less familiar in world terms, Beihai Park nonetheless represents one of those historical "nuggets" that are full of surprises when one chips away at the bare bones of its glossy promotional brochures. Did you know, for example, that almost 750 years ago the area was developed into an imperial garden? Or that three centuries before that, Liao Dynasty rulers were building palaces around the lake on which we today enjoy boating meals?

Simply, then, like any other place, Beihai has its highlights. By definition in a constantly evolving city, no one site or area can have a monopoly on historical appeal.

Beihai was an imperial summer resort of the Ming and Qing dynasties. It was made a park in 1925, 14 years after China became a republic. "Beihai", literally meaning "North sea", is in fact a lake beside a lush green hill, atop which stands the famous White Pagoda. This landmark was built in 1651, a few years after the Manchurians took over China and set up the Qing Dynasty (which survived until 1911).

While arguably the most fascinating attraction of the park, the White Pagoda is far from the oldest -- witness the Liao palaces and Yuan imperial garden, parts of which remain. One of the more modern halls houses what is known as the "Sea of Jade" -- a jade jar 62cm in height and 493cm in diameter that was carved from a large block of the stone on the order of Kublai (1215-1294), first emperor of the Yuan. Legend has it that the jar would be filled with wine to be served when the Mongol ruler entertained his ministers and generals.

No visitor to the park should miss the "Nine Dragon Wall", built in 1786, the 21st year of the reign of the Qing Dynasty's Emperor Qianlong (1736-1795). There are nine huge, dominant dragons on either side of the wall, built with glazed tiles. But don't assume that there are only 18 dragons. In all, there are 633, mostly smaller ones dancing and gamboling in the waves and clouds.

Jingshan Park
A few minutes' walk from Beihai's south gate is Jingshan Park, famous for the tree from which Emperor Chongzhen, last ruler of the Ming Dynasty, hanged himself when peasant rebels broke into the city in 1664. The emperor covered his face with a piece of white cloth before stepping into oblivion. Historical records say his last words were: "I have no face to see my ancestors in the nether world."

Jingshan, or "Hill of Scenery", faces the northern (back) gate of the Forbidden City. Assuming you have already visited this famous site, why not take a stroll along Huangchenggen, the street which, in the Qing Dynasty, was reserved for the residences of princes and other Manchurian aristocrats. The dynasty rapidly declined after the Opium War in the 1840s, so western missionaries were allowed into the street, where they opened a foundlings' (abandoned children) hospital, a church and school. While the hospital and church are long gone, the Sino-French School remains -- a perfectly preserved Gothic structure that houses a research institute of photoelectric technology.

Not everything "old" has disappeared. This writer, for example, stepped into one of Huangchenggen's walled courtyards to find it jammed with scores of families. People's rooms looked as old as they undoubtedly were, all being badly in need of repair and a lick of paint. Some seemed on the point of collapse. Interestingly, the carved beams and painted rafters, though decaying, indicated that the original owner of the courtyard had been someone of substance in imperial China.

These days, tenants' need for additional living space is reflected in a cluster of huts in the courtyard. Fortunately its rockery, an imperative decoration in any high-class compound in northern China, remains intact, serving as yet another piece of material evidence to the urbane life led by the courtyard's original aristocratic owners.

Red Building
A few hundred meters east of Jingshan Park is the Red Building, original site of prestigious Peking University. This was where the May 4 Movement was born in 1919, when students poured from the building to demonstrate and protest against the peace treaty, signed after the Great War, that called for the transfer of privileges enjoyed by defeated Germany to Japan. Ignored during treaty negotiations was that China, like Japan, had been victorious too. The protests, quickly dubbed as the May 4 Movement, represented the first salvo by China's new democratic revolution against imperialism and feudalism. Two years later, a group of fervent young intellectuals founded the Chinese Communist Party.

The Red Building is now the headquarters of the State Cultural Relics Bureau, where every artifact and other item is preserved exactly as it was more than 80 years ago. Despite Beijing's suffocating summer temperatures, which often soar beyond 40 degrees Centigrade, bureau officials refuse to allow installation of air-conditioners. "We must set an example of how protection [of historical and cultural sites] should be carried out," said a spokesman.

From the Red Building you can walk further east to Chaoyangmen, where the city's Central Business District (CBD) is evolving at rapid pace. The unending streams of cars on the area's brightly-lit overpasses and boulevards, set between luxury hotels, office blocks and brand-name shops, are these days part and parcel of New China's ultra-modern Beijing ... a Beijing well on its way to emulating the likes of New York, Paris and Tokyo as an international metropolis. There are still many things historical in Chaoyangmen, ancient hutongs (alleys), for example, but it is possible that as the CBD develops, they will become harder to root out.

In and around Beihai Park, however, is where you can continue to enjoy aspects of history and how the things that bring it into focus, be they bricks-and-mortar, documents or artifacts, serve to illustrate what -- in a cultural sense -- modern Beijing is all about: a rich repository where Old meets New.

Ancient Library
Located to the west of Beihai Park is the National Library of China, formerly the National Peking Library. Located on Baishiqiao Lu and dating from the 1930s, it recently reopened after a three-year facelift. Its setting has all the appearances of an imperial garden.

Occupying a large courtyard containing main, separate buildings called Wenjin, Linqiong, Xuesi and Hongwen, the library's exterior boasts beautiful woodcrafted Chinese characters. In contrast, its spacious interior architecture bears some resemblance to western design.

The library is famous for its collection of old Chinese tomes, but equally valuable for its ordinary ancient books, local histories and even magazines. It has book and magazine reading rooms, where each desk and seat is individually lit by a traditional style lamp. Bookworms are equally fond of the library's occasional exhibitions of book collections, giving them the chance to examine rare books.

Xishiku Cathedral
Searching for Xishiku Cathedral in the Beihai Park area, this writer took a wrong turn and found himself in a small hutong with a beautifully romantic Chinese name: Liu Lansu. A long time ago, there was a palace here which housed famous works by this sculptor, whose name was mistaken as Liu Lan. Even so, the hutong was named after him. Alas, despite much searching, there was no trace of the palace.

Turn left from Liu Lansu and your will soon spot Xishiku Cathedral, the biggest Catholic church in Beijing which is also the home of the Cardinal of the Beijing area. The original cathedral was built in 1689 on the order of the Emperor Kangxi as thanks to a French missionary. In 1890, however, Dowager Cixi moved it to its current location, and had it reconstructed it to its present design.

An old man received and conducted us around the cathedral, which lacks the conventional Cross at its highest point. This, explained our guide, was because the cathedral itself is laid out in the shape of a religious Cross. "You can only see it from above." Thus did we pick up yet another odd, if minor, historical fact about Beijing. One is tempted to conclude by saying: "Watch these columns for more revelations about our links with the past!"