Beijing’s Imperial City: Beyond the Palace Walls

Beyond the walls of the city a massive array of ministries and facilities rose up to support the need of the emperors within. This became the core of the city during the Ming and Qing dynasties and was referred to as the Imperial City.

The magnificent lake at Behai Park was dredged and extended to act as the playground of the emperor and his family as it had been for the dynasties before him and is now open to the public for year round recreation and exploration of it’s ancient curiosities.

The Imperial City Art Gallery has been recently opened in the pleasantly forgotten Changpu River Park to give visitors a better understanding of the workings of this ancient city with many fine exhibits and a magnificent scale model of the area.

The artificial hill in Jingshan Park is the highest point in the city and offer magnificent views across the Imperial Palace and the rest of Beijing’s Inner City while at its foot is the site of the suicide of the last Ming Emperor.

The ancient buildings of Huangshi Cheng were once home to the imperial archives and now house the Beijing Wan Fung Art Gallery giving visitors a unique opportunity to compare the city’s artistic heritage both ancient and modern.

Quick Tips:

This ancient district offers a few places to sleep, eat and drink on its eastern edge where it borders with the high-class tourist area of Dongcheng District. These include the classy but reasonably priced Beijing Jade International Youth Hostel and the extremely pleasant Niuge Jiaozi which serves up the city’s finest dumplings.

Best Way To Get Around:

The Imperial City has formed the very core of Beijing since its foundation and is well served by buses, taxis and pedicabs. It is also served by two metro stations Tian’anmen Xi and Tian’anmen Dong on Metro Line 1 at southwest and southeast corners of the complex respectively.

The massive Beijing Xi railway station is a few stops on Metro Line 1 to the west. While the city’s main railway station Beijing Zahn can be reached by changing to Metro Line 2 to the east and this is also the terminus for the shuttle bus to Beijing International Airport.

Drawing people in with it’s curiously shaped white beacon that dominates the city skyline this pleasant little park has been the city’s playground for over a millennia.

Behai (North Lake) sat on the very outskirts of the ancient Chinese capital of Yanjing and was a resort for the emperors of the Liao (907-1125) dynasty. The Jin (1115-1234) dynasty incorporated it into the grounds of their summer villa at nearby Jingshan Park and built a pleasure palace called Guanghandian (Palace of the Moon) on Qionghua (Jade Islet) in the middle of the lake. After Kublai Khan (1215-1294) swept the Yuan (1206-1368) dynasty to power he decided to make his new capital Dadu here shifting the focus of the ancient city and the Jin’s pleasure palace became his ceremonial hall.

The lake continued to serve as a Imperial pleasure ground during the Ming (1368-1644) dynasty and they built the mighty Tuancheng (Round City) (daily 9:00-16:00, ¥5) that encloses the ancient Jin pine grove on the southern shore. Inside you will find enshrined an exquisite 1.6m-tall white jade Buddha that was a gift to Emperor Guangxu (1871-1908) from the Cambodian King Norodom (1834-1904) and the ornately carved Jade Urn used by Kublai Khan himself for ceremonial toasts at his ancient hall atop Qionghua.

In 1651, following the succession of the Qing (1644-1911) dynasty Emperor Shunzhi (1638-61), gave the park it’s most distinguishing feature by building White Dagoba Temple (daily 9:00-16:00, ¥5) on the site of Guanghandian on the summit of Qionghua. The 36m-high shinning white Dagoba built to honour the visit of the 5th Dalai Lama Lozang Gyatso (1617-1682), and rebuilt after earthquakes in 1679 and 1976, still stands out to this day as a shining beacon over the city. The islet is reached from the southern entrance over a magnificent marble bridge.

Many further Qing dynasty building crowd the north shore of the lake where the emperors would kick back for a spot of fishing from the gorgeous Wulongting (Five Dragon Pavilions), enjoy the seclusion of the park within the park at Jingxinzhai (Tranquil Heart Study), or simply admire the magnificent Ming Jiulongbi (Nine Dragon Wall) one of only three left in the country (the others are in Datong and Pingyao in Sha’anxi Province). Opened to the public in 1925 as Behai Park (daily 6:30-20:00, ¥10) recreations now on offer include boating in the summer and skating in the winter.

A fabulous little place to visit at any time of year although the crowds make it harder to find peace than during imperial times it’s still there if you look for it.

The city authorities’ focal point for the restoration of the ancient imperial city and it’s inscription upon the UNESCO World Heritage List is situated here behind the last remnants of the imperial city wall.

Changpu River Park follows the course of the Outer Golden River that originates from the Xiyuan Zhonghai Lake and flows eastwards into the Yuhe River along the south wall of the Imperial City in front of Tian'anmen Gate acting as a moat in ancient times. Following the Communist Revolution this was covered over with warehouses to store the stands and decorations for the mass National Day celebrations. The authorities swept away these warehouses and in 2003 established this tiny 2,500m2 area of greenery as an historical and ecological oasis within the smog filled and rapidly developing city.

A long path winds through the narrow park beneath the great swathes of green foliage and zigzagging across the river over ornate stone bridges. Curious buildings and pagodas dot the path at irregular intervals and one of the old courtyard buildings that has survived the developments that have swept the city in recent decades is hidden away here and is now home to the Imperial City Art Gallery (daily 9:00-16:00, ¥20). The ornate building rising up from the park’s rich foliage is itself a thing of beauty but even more treasures lie within which offer a fascinating glance into Beijing’s history.

The central hall of the museum is taken up by an intricate scale model of the ancient Imperial city based on the Beijing City Panorama of 1750 and give one an amazing feel for what the core of Beijing must once have looked like. Side halls further develop the vision with artifacts from the imperial curtains, wax, porcelain and satin storehouses, the stone carving workshop, and even the Xi Xin Si which was responsible for the chopping and storing of firewood. While the basement of the museum hosts temporary exhibitions on a variety of subjects including a recent one from the Czech Delegation that dished out free glasses of Pilsner Lager.

Altogether this is a worthy diversion that will get you away from the crowds and give you a deeper insight into the workings of this ancient city.

At the northern edge of the Imperial City stands this artificial hill that offers unparalleled views over the Imperial Palace and across the rest of Beijing's Inner City.

The 230km2 Jingshan Park (daily 06:00-19:00, ¥2) dates back to the Liao (907-1125) and Jin (1115-1234) dynasties when it was the sight of the imperial winter residence. It was turned into a royal park during the Yuan (1206-1368) dynasty with a mighty artificial hill of earth dug-up from the moat and the expansion of the lake figuratively and physically burying the palaces of the previous dynasties. In 1420 during the Ming (1368-1644) dynasty the 5-peaked hill was expanded and became known as Maishan (Coal Hill) after the fuel that was stored at its foot.

The hill now known as Jingshan (Prospect Hill) is the highest point in the city and conforms to strict fengshui principles protecting the palace from the bitter northern winds and the evil spirits of the Black Warrior that live beyond. The hills protection of the emperor ultimately failed as we shall see later and following the eventual departure of the last Emperor Puyi (1906-67) the park was opened to public in 1928 and renovated in 1949 into one of China’s AAAA rated attractions.

At the foot of the hill stands the double-layered Qiwanglou (Beautiful View Pavilion) where emperors would once pay homage at the memorial tablet of Confucius and now home to regularly rotating displays of painting, calligraphy and porcelain. From here you can follow the path around to the east where you will see the place where, following the capture of the city by Li Zicheng and his peasant army, the last Ming Emperor Chongzhen (1611-44) fled to hang himself from an ancient scholar tree. The original tree was uprooted during the Cultural Revolution but a replacement has since been planted in its place to mark the spot.

From here a small path winds up the hill to Wanchun (Everlasting Spring Pavilion) on the summit where a bronze Buddha gazes out over the Forbidden City. The auxiliary pavilions on the lesser four peaks also once held smaller bronze Buddhas but these were sadly looted by the Eight-Nation Alliance during the repression of the Boxer Rebellion (1899-1901). At the rear of the complex is the Shouhuang (Imperial Longevity Hall) now home to the Beijing Children’s Palace where local children enjoy extracurricular education in cultural activities of dancing, singing, music and art.

The park makes a pleasant escape from the hustle and bustle below and offers magnificent views across the city making it an excellent way to end a trip to the Palace Museum.

Hidden away on a side street running along the eastern edge of the Forbidden City is a fascinating little compound housing treasures both ancient and modern.

Huangshi Cheng (daily 9am-7pm, free) was constructed in 1534 by Emperor Jiajing (1507-1567) of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and reconstructed in 1807 by Emperor Jiaqing (1760-1820) of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) this is the oldest surviving Imperial archival vault in China. The perfectly preserved courtyard complex consists of a magnificent main hall along with two flanking side halls and an imposing entrance all constructed without a single piece of wood in order to guard against fire. The central Main Hall of the Archives with it’s Imperial glazed tile roof was once home to China's most important writings (although curiously not a sign of the otherwise omnipresent Harry Potter), these included;

• the Yongle Dadian one of the world’s first encyclopedias commissioned in 1403 by Emperor Yongle (1360-1424)
  
• the Jade Book recording the Emperor’s own Imperial genealogies
  
• the Shilu true narration historical records
  
• the Shengxun Imperial teachings
  
• the Yudie precious record of Imperial edicts
  
• the Da Qing Huidian compendia of Qing law
  
• and the Imperial General’s Seals

all stored in 152 great gold-plated camphor wood cabinets covered with copper dragon designs that can still be viewed by peeping through the glass panels in the securely locked doors. Many of these writing were sadly lost during the Eight-Nation Alliance’s destructive repression of the Boxer Rebellion (1899-1901) but some of the cabinets can still be viewed.

The complex is now owned by renowned art-critic Kwok Ho-mun, who in 1986 established the Wan Fung Art Gallery. From its headquarters in Hong Kong this fine arts organisation has run exhibitions of contemporary Chinese art across the world. The capital branch Beijing Wan Fung Art Gallery (Mon 12:00-18:00 + Tue-Sun 9:00-11:00&13:00-16:30, free) has been set up here in the side halls of the complex where regularly rotating exhibitions of traditional Chinese paintings, oil paintings, watercolours and engravings are displayed in surprisingly spacious and well lit and surroundings. Solo artist exhibitions at the gallery have recently included;

• The Sounds collection by Wang Jie
  
• the pencil sketches of Kuang Han
  
• the Leisure and Peace collection by Zhao Chenxiang
  
• the Mother Affection collection by Du Yingqiang
  
• and the oil paintings of Li Jisen

to see what is currently on display visit the gallery’s website at wangfung.com.cn.

Just off from the bustle of Tian’anmen Square this quiet little compound offers a peaceful escape to contemplate contemporary Chinese art.