Haidian University District, Summer Palace and Fragrant Hills

Haidian is known as the student district of Beijing but not for the usual things that identify a university district like shabby living quarters and wild unkempt youths sprawled about in neighbourhood cafes and bars. Haidian is best known for its many university campuses, its elegantly attired young Chinese student population and its fashion-conscious, trend-setting men and women that graduate to fill the many new and emerging employment posts across China's cities. Haidian is also known for its higher-than-usual percentage of westerners who come to Beijing to teach and study in the universities of the district and also to work in the many State enterprises that employ Foreign Experts to assist in the development of China's transition into a socialist market economy.

 

Many universities are famous among the Chinese but perhaps none quite as famous as Bei Da (Peking University). More than 100 years old, Bei Da has educated some of China's brightest men and women. Home to 46,000 students, Bei Da is a composite of a former US missionary school, Yanjing University, and the Chinese Metropolitan University of the former Qing Dynasty. An elegant, peaceful retreat from the hustle and bustle of Beijing daily life, the campus of Bei Da is shaded and cool in summer and still, frozen and tranquil in winter. The lakes around the campus provide a perfect opportunity to rest under a tree or sleep away a hot summer afternoon.

 

Other campuses worth taking a peek at in the district include The People's University also known as Renmin Da.

 

Sumptuous accommodation is available at State Guest House on Fuchengmenwai that, as the name may suggest, houses VIP travellers and business guests visiting the city.

 

The Summer Palace is one of the most-visited and important sites on the Beijing tourist itinerary and with good reason. Also called the Yiheyuan, the palace is a large site and needs the better part of a day to cover comfortably. In contrast to its original use as an imperial retreat, the palace today is quite a busy place but don't let that put you off. Seen on a bright winter morning or dazzlingly hot summer afternoon, the palace is a memorable part of any China experience. The palace is mostly a large cultivated garden containing the remains of buildings built in the 18th century that were badly damaged in an Anglo-French Invasion in the 1860s. Kunming Lake is a dominating feature with its 17-Arch Bridge that connects South Lake Island with the lake's edge on the opposite shore. The buildings that remain include the Hall of Benevolence and Longevity and the majestic Long Corridor. Further up the hillside, Fragrance Pavilion and the Temple of the Sea of Wisdom are worth the short climb. Look out for Empress Cixi's marble boat, an extravagant gesture of China's ruling imperial taste for the decorative and opulent and impractical. Made of marble, the boat rests in the lake water but cannot move.

 

Take Note: The Summer Palace (Yiheyuan) should not to be confused with the Yuanmingyuan, the Old Summer Palace, an earlier royal summer retreat that was also ransacked by British and French troops during the Opium Wars.

 

Fragrant Hills Park, called Xiangshan Gongyuan in Chinese, is just the right place for a mountain amble and forest forage. Located close enough to the city centre to be accessible on a day's excursion, it is also far enough to feel immersed in the countryside. Local Chinese visit the Fragrant Hills at any given opportunity to experience the fresh air, see the colourful budding blossom trees and take exercise across the mountain range. There are temples to visit such as the Temple of Brilliance and hotels to stay in such as the aptly named Fragrant Hills Hotel, a popular local haunt.