Best international

Gt; Café Sambal > Dali Courtyard > Source > Hatsune > Hutong Pizza > Maison Boulud > Salt PARKS & GARDENS

Many of Beijing’s parks are former imperial gardens and were off-limits to ordinary Beijingers until after the founding of the People’s Republic of China. In Xicheng district, Jingshan Park was once part of the Forbidden City. The hill in Jingshan, which is not a natural feature in pancake-flat Beijing, was built to protect the palace from the evil spirits coming from the north.

Jingshan is also where Chongzhen, the last Ming emperor, hung himself from a tree as the invading Manchu forces swarmed over the city walls. Nearby, in Xicheng, Beihai Park was a royal stomping ground from the Yuan dynasty, when it was the site of Kublai Khan’s now-vanished palace. During this period, earth was removed to make its enormous lake and the displaced soil was used to form the small middle island, Jade Islet.

Elsewhere, the majority of the city’s parks were created from land formerly used by the emperors to perform annual rites to various gods. Though each of the parks is different, all still have the vast altars where the emperors stood while conducting their rituals. These days, however, locals use them for kite flying and taichi practice.

But Chinese parks and gardens are more than just recreational spaces. Unlike Western parks, they are considered to be landscape art and are meant to perfectly balance the yin and yang. Each garden must have several elements – the main ones being plants, rock, water and pavilions – in order for it to be harmonious. Consequently, the hardness of the rock (yang) should balance out the softness of the water (yin), while plants are chosen for their symbolic significance as much as for their aesthetics.

Landscape art or water garden, feng shui is a cornerstone of the design
GREG ELMS/LONELY PLANET IMAGES

Дата добавления: 2015-11-14