Beihai Park Photos

Beihai Park is an imperial garden to the northwest of the Forbidden City in Beijing. Built in the 10th century, it is amongst the largest of Chinese gardens, and contains numerous historically important structures, palaces and temples.

The Park has an area of more than 69 hectares, with a lake that covers more than half of the entire Park. The Beihai Park, as with many of Chinese imperial gardens, was built to imitate renowned scenic spots and architecture from various regions of China; the taihu lake, the elaborate pavilions and canals in Hangzhou and Yangzhou, the delicate garden structures in Suzhou and others all served as inspirations for the design of the numerous sites in this imperial garden.