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Best parks in Beijing

There are handreds of parks in Beijing. Many of them are huge and boast its own special features. The parks of Beijing provide locals and tourists nice spots to relax, enjoy the beautiful nature views and take outdoor leisure and enjoy the tours of Beijing.

The following are the top parks in Beijing.

Jingshan Park Beijing

Jingshan Park, also known as Coal Hill, sits directly north of the Forbidden City. The park spans 57 acres and is centred on a large hill. This hill was created in 1420 during the construction of the moat around the Forbidden City, with earth removed form the moat used to create the hill. This mount is the highest point in the otherwise flat Beijing area, an is also good from a Feng Shui point of view, as a residence should be built to the south of a mountain (in this case the residence being the Forbidden City).  The park was not open to the public during imperial times and was reserved only for the elite. Another noteworthy fact about Jingshan Park is that the last Ming emperor committed suicide within the grounds of the park. 

Beihai Park Beijing

Beihai Park is one of the most famous tourist attractions in Beijing and is located near to the Forbidden City. It occupies more than 68 hectares, with more than half taken up by the lake. It is considered a great example of Chinese gardening and architecture, taking influence form some of the great gardens of Suzhou and Hangzhou. From the White Dagoba, people can enjoy a view over the rest of Beihai Park and much of central Beijing. Beihai Park is also the site of the most famous Nine-Dragon Screen in China as well as statues of Buddha in the Circular City building.

Beijing Botanical Garden

Beijing Botanical Garden, lying at the foot of Beijing's Western Hills, was founded in 1956 with financial support from the central government. Following a decade of expansion, it suffered a decade of neglect during the Cultural Revolution. During the past 20 years, a great many new projects and and area have been created. New collection areas are being extended and more plant species are being collected at present.  It is Northern China's biggest botanical garden and contains one of Asia's largest greenhouses.

World Park Beijing

World Park is located in the Fengtai District of Beijing. The World Park in Beijing features 106 of the most famous sites from 14 countries and regions across the globe.
The park, encompassing 46.7 hectares (115.4acres), consists of two parts: the scenic area with miniature sights, and a zone for entertainment events, shopping and eating. There are several zones based on Africa, North America, South America, Asia and Europe.  Sites include miniature Big Ben (UK), Taj Mahal (India), Eiffel Tower (France), Pyramids (Egypt) and even a miniature Manhattan (USA)!  Attention to detail is key with, for example miniature Red Square (Russia) paved with 5 million tiny paving stones of the same material as the original.  There is also a garden zone, featuring garden styles from around the world. 

Beijing Yuyuantan Park

Yuyuantan Park lies in Haidian District and is not far from CCTV Tower and the China Millennium Monument. The park is 1820-meters wide and 1106 meters long, occupying 136.69 hectares with 61 hectares of that water.  Yuyuantan Park is a tourist draw from April through to early May every year as it has beautiful cherry blossoms. There are around 199,500 plants including about 2000 cherry trees of over 20 different species, many of which were gifts from Japan when the two countries re-opened diplomatic ties in the 1970s. Other blossoming trees such as peach are also found, as well as tulip flowers. The park hosts an annual cherry blossom festival in April. The lake is also popular for boating, and it is possible to get a boat from here to the Summer Palace.  A swimming area and cafes are also located within the park.

Beijing Olympic Green

The Beijing Olympic Green is large park located on the northern central axis of the city. It occupies an area of 1,215 hectares, with over half of this set aside for trees and open spaces, with the other half being taken up by Olympic structures and the China Nationalities Village. The  trees and open spaces of the Olympic Green provide a natural lung for the city. It contains 44% of the total Olympic sports venues and most of the service facilities. The area contains 14 sports venues, the Olympic Village, the Reporters' Village, as well as a news center, an international broadcasting and TV center all of which were used during the games and are still used to an extent now the Olympics have finished.

Beijing Chaoyang Park

Chaoyang Park is the largest urban park within the Fourth Ring Road. The first park to be built on the site was built in 1984 and was originally called 'Shuiduizi Park', and was only changed to 'Chaoyang Park' in 1992. The total area of Chaoyang Park is 288.7 hectares, which includes 68.2 hectares covered by water.
There are forests, playground, and art square that placed within the park. There are also two large outdoor swimming pools, a 75-meter bungee jumping tower over one of the lakes, boating, sports areas, a wetland area, a fun fair and musical fountains.

Beijing Daguanyuan Garden

Beijing Daguanyuan is a very unique ancient garden around Beijing. The whole garden has covered an area of almost 13 hectares with over 40 pavilions and towers as well as Buddhism style of courtyard which was designed with artificial mountains and river systems, plenty of colorful flowers and lush greenery. Many of the researchers for Hongloumeng (The Dream of Red Chamber), one of the most famous classical literatures of China are having the same thought that Beijing Daguanyuan is absolutely the dreamy paradise in Hongloumeng. Besides that, it is also a great destination that exhibits the culture of Red Chamber.