Shichahai () is a historic scenic area consisting of three lakes in the north of central

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

. They are located directly northwest of the

Forbidden City The Forbidden City () is the Chinese Empire, imperial Chinese palace, palace complex in the center of the Imperial City, Beijing, Imperial City in Beijing, China. It was the residence of 24 Ming dynasty, Ming and Qing dynasty, Qing dynasty L ...

and north of the Beihai Lake. Shichahai consists of the following three lakes: Qianhai (), Xihai () and

Houhai Houhai () is a lake and its surrounding neighborhood in Xicheng District of central Beijing, China. Houhai is the largest of the three lakes, along with Qianhai 'Front Lake' and Xihai 'Western Lake', that comprise Shichahai, the collective ...

(). In imperial times it was called the ''Riverbank'' ().

Description

Shichahai consists of and dates back to the Jin Dynasty. From the time of the

Yuan Dynasty The Yuan dynasty ( ; zh, c=元朝, p=Yuáncháo), officially the Great Yuan (; Mongolian language, Mongolian: , , literally 'Great Yuan State'), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after Div ...

it was the northernmost part of the Grand Canal linking

Hangzhou Hangzhou, , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ; formerly romanized as Hangchow is a sub-provincial city in East China and the capital of Zhejiang province. With a population of 13 million, the municipality comprises ten districts, two counti ...

in the south to Beijing in the North of China. Because of this, the Shichahai area used to be the most important commercial district with all kinds of activities going on. It harbors several temples and mansions. Shichahai literally means "the lake of ten temples". Around the lake there are ten famous

Taoist Taoism or Daoism (, ) is a diverse philosophical and religious tradition indigenous to China, emphasizing harmony with the Tao ( zh, p=dào, w=tao4). With a range of meaning in Chinese philosophy, translations of Tao include 'way', 'road', ...

and

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

temples and several formal royal mansions and gardens. The most well known are the Prince Gong Mansion and the Prince Chun Mansion. Shichahai is a famous scenic spot in Beijing, and it is near the north-gate of the

Beihai Park Beihai Park is a public park and former imperial garden immediately northwest of the Forbidden City in Beijing, China. First built in the 12th century, Beihai is among the largest of all surviving Chinese gardens and contains numerous histo ...

. The borders of the lakes are lined by tall trees. In the summer tourists rent boats to paddle on the lakes. In the winter many people come to ice-skate. In 1992, the municipal government of Beijing declared it as a "Historical and Cultural Scenic Area".

Gallery

Beijing Shichahai 1.jpg, Shichahai Beijing Shichahai.jpg, Shichahai shishahai_2.jpg, A group of buildings at the border of the Shichahai Beijing Shichahai bridge.jpg, "Silver Ingot"- or "Yinding" bridge ()

External links

* {{Old Beijing Gardens in Beijing Tourist attractions in Beijing Xicheng District

Description

Gallery

See also

External links