Description:
The original design for the park originates from an ancient tale. Chinese legend has it that there were three islands across the eastern seas where fairies and immortals lived: Penglai, Yingzhou and Fangzhang. The celestial beings inhabiting these islands invented a wonderful pill that made humans immortal. (Imagine an ancient Viagra and you get the scale of the craze). Emperor Qingshihuang and Emperor Hanwudi sent messengers across the seas in search of these wonderful pills, but the messengers never returned. The Chinese emperors were forced therefore, to settle for something less. They constructed their own fairyland in the lake near their Palace as a comfort to themselves and their un-realized dreams of being immortal.

Manin Scenery:
The main scenery of Beihai park is composed of :Beihai lake, Jade Islet, Jinxinhai, Nine Dragon Screen, Round City, White Pagoda, Suhavatigarden, Yong'an Temple and many other interesting ones.

Noticable Places
The Bai Ta (White Dagoba) is a 40 m high stupa placed on the highest point on Qiónghuá Island. Its body is made of white stone. Sun, moon and flame engravings decorate the surface of the tower. Destroyed in 1679 by an earthquake, it was rebuilt the following year. The same in 1976, because of an earthquake which occurred at Tangshan City, near Beijing City. A Reliquary, secreted inside the structure are Buddhist Scriptures, monk's mantles and alms bowl, and the bones of monks (their remains after cremation).
On the north bank lies the Five-Dragon Pavilion, which was built in the Ming Dynasty.
The Nine-Dragon Wall lies north of the Five-Dragon Pavilion. It was built in 1756 and is one of three walls of its kind in China. It is made of glaze bricks of seven-colors. Nine complete dragons playing in the clouds decorate both sides of the wall.
Also on the north bank is the Jingxin Room (Quieting Heart Room). It is a garden within the garden, and covers an area of more than 4,000 m2.
The Circular Wall (Tuancheng) has as its main structure the Hall of Received Light (Chengguangdian), a spacious building with a double-eaved roof made of yellow glazed tiles bordered in green. Inside there is a 1.6 m tall Buddha presented to Emperor Guangxu by a Cambodian king. It is carved from a single piece of pure white jade inlaid with precious stones. The Eight-Nation Alliance damaged the statue’s left arm in the Battle of Peking in 1900.