Inside the Imperial City there were: all the city departments, palaces, temples, warehouses and gardens. The defense and service functions were perfect in the city. The Tian An Men gate tower, Beihai Park, Jingshan Hill, Imperial Ancestral Temple (now the Working People's Cultural Palace), Altar to the God of the Land and Grain (now the Zhongshan Park) and the Pudu Temple were all situated inside the Imperial City.
When the Imperial City of Beijing applied for the World Cultural Heritage status, the Beijing Imperial City Art Museum was opened on June, 2003 in Changpu River Park. The central hall of the museum contains a scale model of the ancient Imperial City based on the Beijing City Panorama of 1750 and provides an amazing insight to the appearance of the early core of Beijing. Side halls further develop the vision with artifacts such as: the imperial curtains, candles, lanterns, playbills, and the jade treasures and tributes to the emperor. The basement of the museum hosts temporary exhibitions on a variety of subjects such as one exhibition from the Czech Delegation that provided free glasses of Pilsner Lager.
Further along, are the copper sculptures and armors of the guards. Hanging here are the exquisite official costumes of the era and the written records of the 300-year-old history of the Ming Dynasty are located here. Interesting items such as those related to pigeon culture are also displayed.
The 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 (it acted as a moat in ancient times). Following the Communist Revolution this was covered over with warehouses to store the stands and decorations for the massive National Day celebrations. Later, the authorities removed these warehouses and in 2003 established a tiny 2,500 m. area of greenery as an historical and ecological oasis in the rapidly developing city.
Telephone: 8610-85115104
Address:Inside the Changpuhe Park,9 Changpuheyan
