Royal gardens in Beijing

The Summer Palace（颐和园）

The Summer Palace is a vast ensemble of lakes, gardens and palaces in Beijing. Mainly dominated by Longevity Hill and Kunming Lake, it covers an expanse of 2.9 square kilometers, three-quarters of which is water.

The Old Summer Palace (圆明园遗址公园)

The old summer palace, also called Yuanmingyuan, is the garden for 4 emperors: Yongzheng, Qianlong, Jiaqing, Daoguang and Xianfeng. After 150 years designation, the garden became the most grand and most well-known garden in Chinese history.

Temple of Heaven (天坛公园)

Tiantan Park is the seat of the Temple of Heaven in the Ming and Qing Dynasties (1368 - 1911). Temple of Heaven was visited by the Emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties for annual ceremonies of prayer to Heaven for good harvest and rain.

Jingshan Park (景山公园)

The Jingshan Park is a picturesque royal garden and the largest garden to appreciate the peonies. Jingshan's history dates back to the Liao and Jin dynasties, almost a thousand years ago. It is one of the oldest and most completely preserved imperial gardens in China, and used to be an integral part of the imperial palace.

Prince Gong's Mansion (恭王府)

Prince Gong's Mansion, also known as Prince Kung's Mansion, is located near Shichahai to the northwest of the Forbidden City in Beijing. It consists of large siheyuan-style mansions and gardens and is one of the most exquisite and best-preserved imperial mansions in Beijing.

Beihai Park (北海公园)

The Beihai Park sits at the center of Beijing, on the west side of Jingshan, the northwest side of the Forbidden City, and is one of the three “seas” along with Zhonghai (“central sea”) and Nanhai (“southern sea”). The former imperial garden was built around Beihai, covering 71 hectares, with a water area of 583 mu (38.89 hectares) and a land area of 480 mu (32.02 hectsres).

Zhongshan Park（中山公园）

The Zhongshan Park, on the west side of Tian’anmen Square, is adjacent to the Golden Water Bridge, the Forbidden City and the Zhongnanhai. The 23.8-hectare altar garden was built in honor of Sun Yat-sen. In 1988 it became an Important Heritage Site under State Protection.