Visits to Jingshan and Beihai Parks

Climbing the Great Wall yesterday was great but my body wasn’t feeling too great this morning. I spent the morning hours resting and reading in Bed. At around 1:00PM, I decided to check out Jingshan park which is only about a five minute walk from my hotel. Like many of these places in Beijing, it requires climbing a lot of steps. The park has five pavilions located in the five summits of the hill.

One of the pavilions that caught my attention was the Pavilion of Imperial Spring. It is located at the middle peak of the Jing Shan (Prospect Hill). This was built in 1750, during the reign of Emperor Qianlong of the Qing dynasty. It is a beautiful structure and allows you to get a panoramic view of the city of Beijing.

On the peak of the hill is the Wanchun Pavilion (All Time Spring Pavilion). Originally, they were five pavilions on this hill during the Ming Dynasty. These were Yuxiu (Cultivating Prettiness), Shouchun (Eternal Spring), Jifang (Integrating Flowers and Spring), Changchun (Everlasting Spring), and Huijing (Landscape Gathering). The present pavilion was built on the site of these 5 pavilions in 1750 and it was named All Time Spring.

Inside the pavilion is a big Buddha figure, Vairocana. Photos are not allowed inside as people pray to the Buddha. I was able to capture a photo of the Buddha. Before you judge and condemn me for violating a rule, I actually used a loophole. The rule said, no photos inside. It didn’t say you cannot take the photo through the open window. I made sure I was not using flash so that I did not distract those paying homage to the Buddha. You get a spectacular view of Beijing from this hill. From it, you are able to see the Forbidden City, the Beihai Park, the Bell and Drum Towers, etc. It is the best spot to see all of the city of Beijing.

Beyond the attractive pavilions with great views and the beautiful gardens and flowers is a historic event that makes this park important. The park has a tree in which the Emperor Chongzhen committed suicide by hanging. This was in 1644 and during the Ming Dynasty. 400,000 peasants led by Li Zichen invaded the imperial city. The peasants demanded that the Emperor abdicate his throne and surrender to them. The Emperor disagreed. His ministers and soldiers abandoned him and wouldn’t respond to his summons. He forced the Empress to commit suicide and he had all his concubines and daughters killed, most of them with his own hands. He had the crowned prince escorted out of the city to a place safe. Together with one squire, a eunuch named Wang Cheng’en, the emperor bit his own finger and wrote his last decree with his own blood on his cloth: “Both morally and physically unworthy, I have caused the rebels to siege the very capital. I blame only my ministers who caused troubles to me. Now I have to face to meet my ancestors underground, so I take my imperial crown off and cover my face with my hair. I leave my body to be insulted, just wishing they hurt no civilians.” He was the last emperor of the Ming Dynasty.

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Emperor Chongzhen is officially celebrated as a Hero as he put his empire first by dying for it. Such a history is revisionist and leaves many questions unanswered. If he cared about his empire, why did he not abdicate immediately when the peasant uprising began? Why did he chose to take his life only after the decree to his soldiers to fight until death was ignored by them? The people rose up against him because of corrupt politics, heavy and excessive taxation, natural calamities, etc. Why did he not step out of his throne and suffer with the people the consequences of his own leadership? His final decree does not reflect a contrite heart. He blames his ministers for all the things that went wrong, never accepting any blame. Was he a hero or a coward? You may come to your own conclusions.

This history leaves us with a lot to think about in light of contemporary world politics. It is interesting that the revolt of the peasants started in the Spring. The Arab Spring which happened a few years ago mirrors this kind of uprising by the masses who felt exploited by their leaders. You can only suppress the human person for so long, at some point, he/she would rise against the system. The economic crisis that the US suffered in 2008 and its resultant impact should teach us some lessons. But it seems, we have not learnt anything. Wall Street has returned to business as normal and the inequality gap continues to widen. Poverty is in the rise and not too long, people are going to stop believing or accepting “the America dream.” The idea of the American Dream has kept the subservient loyal because they too think they might some day achieve that dream. That dream is fast slipping away and it is almost becoming a delusion.

Later in the evening I went to the Beihai park. There are several restaurants, Karaoke bars and pubs by the lake across from the park. I had one of my best Chinese meals since I got here. Prices are good and you get tasty food. I had bamboo shoots mixed with vegetables and spicy tofu in hot sauce with onions and papers. Food was really yummy. My total bill, only 120 Yuan ($10).

After dinner, I walked to the park. Admission is only 10 Yuan. The park opens till late. I entered around 7:30PM and left around 9PM when it was closing. It is a nice park with beautiful gardens and a lake in the middle of it. It is one of the oldest and largest gardens in China. It is over 1000 years old. The landmark in this park is the Jade flowery islet. It is a great park for jogging, walking or just sitting to reflect or absorb the beauty of the gardens and the lake. My visit here was just to take a walk while sightseeing. After walking the park around and retuning home, I hit about 13,000 steps on my Fitbit.

Though I started today as a day of rest, I still was able to see some places and above all, have a nice dinner. Who knows what tomorrow holds as I head to the Summer Palace.