Fragrant Hills or Xiangshan Park is a public park and former imperial garden at the foot of the Western Hills in the Haidian District, in the northwestern part of Beijing, China. It was also formerly known as Jingyi Garden or "Jingyiyuan". It covers and consists of a natural pine-cypress forest, hills with maple trees, smoke trees and persimmon trees, as well as landscaped areas with traditional architecture and cultural relics. The name derives from the park's highest peak, Xianglu Feng, a hill with two large stones resembling incense burners at the top.
Name
The syllable xiang in the Fragrant Hills' Chinese nameXiangshan refers to incense, not fragrance per se. This name is perhaps derived from the name of the highest peak Xianglu Feng, literally: "Incense-burner Peak". The bronze-cast incense burner being a common article found in temples. Indeed, incense was also often used as a metonym for temples.
History
The park was built in 1186 in the Jin dynasty and expanded during the Yuan dynasty and Ming dynasty. In 1745, the Qianlong Emperor of the Qing dynasty ordered the addition of many new halls, pavilions and gardens and gave it a new name, Jingyi Palace. Many of the relics in the park were damaged by foreign troops during two major attacks. In 1860, British troops set the Old Summer Palace ablaze, burning it to the ground along with the Gardens of Perfect Brightness, causing extensive damage to many relics in the park. Another attack in 1900 by the Eight-Nation Alliance caused destruction to the park and to the Summer Palace built by Empress Dowager Cixi. Since 1949, the Chinese government has been engaged in continuous restoration and development in the area. Fragrant Hills Park is recognized as one of the major tourist attractions in Beijing. When autumn arrives, the natural scenery in the park turns spectacular, with fiery red smoke tree leaves covering the mountain side. Every year, thousands of tourists ride the cable cars through the park in order see the hills in autumn colors. The grand opening of the annual Red Leaf Festival of Beijing takes place there. There is also the Fragrant Hill Hotel, designed by I. M. Pei, which is more traditional than most of his designs.
Routes
There are two main routes through the park. One route goes through the north area, with Spectacles Lake and the bridge, Study of Reading Heart and Bright Temple. Study of Reading Heart was built in the Ming dynasty and is a landscaped park inside Fragrant Hills Park. Bright Temple is a large Tibetan style lamasery complex built in 1780 as the residence for the sixth Panchen Lama during his visits to the Qianlong Emperor. Buildings in the complex have partially been burned down. Among the surviving treasures are a majestic glazed-tiled archway in front of the complex, a terrace and a glazed-tiled pagoda. Bells hung on the eaves of the pagoda chime in breeze. The second route leads through the south area of the park. Main attractions along the route include Tranquility Green Lake, Shuangqing Villa, Fragrant Temple, and Incense Burner Peak. This route is more difficult because it leads across the highest peak, Incense Burner Peak. Another point of interest in the park is the Shuangqing Villa, once the residence of Mao Zedong and also an early site for the headquarters of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. The Temple of Azure Clouds is located just outside the north gate of Fragrant Hills Park.
