Park Life: Everything You Need to Know About Zhongshan Park
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Life's a park! We take a look at Beijing's most beloved parks, dig into what makes each of them special, and why they're worth your time to explore.
Name: Zhongshan Park 中山公园 (zhōngshān gōngyuán) / Altar of Grain and Soil 社稷坛 (shèjì tán)
Address: Nanchang Jie (West Gate), Xicheng District 中山公园西门 西城区南长街
Opening hours: Daily 6am-10pm (park), 9am-5pm (sites)
Price: RMB 3 (RMB 10 During the Tulip Fair from late March to mid-May)
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Amenities: Restrooms of varying quality. The usual snack and souvenir stalls. Bumper cars. Pedal boats. Children’s playground. Note that the attractions are open irregularly depending on the anticipated number of visitors and whether the staff feels like working that day.
Known for: History, of course, but also beautiful views across the moat at the walls of the Forbidden City. Crowd-free access to Palace Museum gates. Spring flowers galore (especially tulips) and a lively marriage market on Thursdays and Sundays.
The Altar for Land and Grain was originally constructed in 1421 at about the same time as the adjacent Forbidden City. The altar was one of several in Beijing which was devoted to agriculture and good harvests. After all, if you’re the ruler of a large agrarian empire, good harvests are good politics. Notably, the Altar for Land and Grain sits on the site of a much earlier temple dating to the Liao Empire (10th century). While nothing remains of this earlier structure, some of the cypress trees in the park are said to date from that period and are over 1,000 years old. After the Qing Imperial court abdicated, the park was repurposed as a public space in 1914. Originally named, creatively enough, Central Park. In 1925, the body of revolutionary leader Sun Yat-sen (1866-1925) lay in state in the main hall of the former altar complex. The park was renamed in honor of Sun (Sun Zhongshan) in 1928.
The park also contains the "Peace Arch," originally a memorial arch for the slain German diplomat Clemens Von Ketteler (1853-1900) who was killed at the beginning of the 1900 Boxer War. The original arch was located near Dongdan but was dismantled in 1918 and eventually moved to the park. It was rechristened the "Peace Arch" in 1953 with suitable calligraphy by Guo Moruo, Chairman Mao’s house intellectual. The park’s famous tulips were a gift from Holland and have been blooming every spring since 1977.
Zhongshan Park with its shaded lanes and quiet spaces offers a welcome respite from the heaving crowds jostling to get into the Palace Museum next door. The springtime brings some of Beijing’s best blossoms (and did we mention the tulips?). Walking along the southeastern moat of the Forbidden City provides a nice perspective on the palace walls across the way. The park also has bumper cars and paddle boats for those with children who might be bored with flowers.
The Forbidden City Concert Hall, once the city’s premier concert venue, has been overshadowed since the construction of the National Center for the Performing Arts but still hosts regular performances leaning heavily toward Western classical and Chinese traditional music.
There’s also a lively marriage market where parents exchange the particulars of their adult children. The market is usually active on Thursdays and Sundays.
Visitors seeking a way to visit the Forbidden City without wishing to wait in long security lines can use the park’s gates as a shortcut to these more famous sites. For the Forbidden City, enter the park through the West Gate and then cross over and exit via the East Gate which will take you to the front of the Meridian Gate and the ticket/security checks for the Palace Museum.
Sandwiched between two of Beijing’s most famous (and crowded) attractions, many people pass by the gates of the park without even realizing what’s inside. That’s a shame because it’s a great place to sit and relax between touring Tiananmen Square and tackling the Forbidden City. As such, Zhongshan Park remains a serene oasis despite the park’s location right in the heart of the capital.
Photos: Jeremiah Jenne, Google Maps
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