Longtan Lake Park (), is a recreational

urban park An urban park or metropolitan park, also known as a municipal park (North America) or a public park, public open space, or municipal gardens ( UK), is a park in cities and other incorporated places that offer recreation and green space to re ...

located in Dongcheng District (formerly in Chongwen District) of

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 2 ...

, just east of the

Temple of Heaven The Temple of Heaven () is a complex of imperial religious buildings situated in the southeastern part of central Beijing. The complex was visited by the Emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties for annual ceremonies of prayer to Heaven for a ...

. It is one of the largest modern parks inside the

2nd Ring Road The 2nd Ring Road () is the innermost ring road highway which encircles the city center of Beijing, People's Republic of China. (The first ring road had been a circular tram route.) The ring road can be divided into two parts: the original rin ...

of Beijing. There is also a large outdoor bird market in the park. Located at the center of the park is a large lake called which features many

moon bridge A moon bridge (月桥), also known as “''sori-bashi"'' (反り橋) in Japanese, or as a drum bridge (“taiko-bashi” 太鼓橋),Liu, Yan (2020-09-01). "A full moon in another land: The Moon Bridge in the Japanese garden of the Huntington Libra ...

s, rock gardens, dragon boats, tea houses and restaurants.LongTan Dragon Park
- Beijing Guide 2008 ' The major landscape in this park is the Longtan Lake, which translates as Dragon Pool. The lake used to be a huge man-made cave on the ground. The cave was created during

Jiajing Emperor The Jiajing Emperor (; 16September 150723January 1567) was the 12th Emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigning from 1521 to 1567. Born Zhu Houcong, he was the former Zhengde Emperor's cousin. His father, Zhu Youyuan (1476–1519), Prince of Xing, w ...

's reign of

Ming Dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last orthodox dynasty of China ruled by the Han peo ...

, when people in Beijing dug earth and mud there to make bricks for the city wall of Beijing Outer City. After that, the cave became the drainage area of the old Beijing, and became a lake of waste water. In 1952, the Beijing government decided to solve the environmental problem caused by the lake of waste water. They drew away waste water from the lake, and invited

Liang Sicheng Liang Sicheng (; 20 April 1901 – 9 January 1972) was a Chinese architect and architectural historian, known as the father of modern Chinese architecture. His father, Liang Qichao, was one of the most prominent Chinese scholars of the early 2 ...

, a famous architect and landscape designer, to re-design this area to be a public park. The waste water was removed and replaced with freshwater to create a, new, scenic lake. Some other attractions are also located in the park, such as a temple dedicated to

Yuan Chonghuan Yuan Chonghuan (; 6 June 1584 – 22 September 1630), courtesy name Yuansu or Ziru, was a Chinese politician, military general and writer who served under the Ming dynasty. Widely regarded as a patriot in Chinese culture, he is best known for d ...

, a collection of tablets, a series of hills, a waterfall and the "Gardens of Chinese Dragons". Longtan Park pic 2

Longtan Park, Beijing - satellite image (1967-09-20)

References

External links

Longtan Park: Beijing Visitor
Parks in Beijing Dongcheng District, Beijing {{Beijing-geo-stub