[Photo from visitbeijing.com.cn]

Yuyuantan Park, totaling 137 hectares (338.5 acres), is located on the West 3rd-Ring Road (Xi Sanhuan Lu), in the Haidian District. The park boasts extensive waters and beautiful gardens. Half of the total area is occupied by four lakes: the East and the West lakes, the gourd-shaped Bayi Lake and Yinshui Lake. As early as the Liao Dynasty (916-1125), this area had become an imperial fishing spot. The northwest Cherry Blossom Garden, Yinshui Lake Scenic Area in the northeast, Zhongshan Isle in the south, and the southeast Liuchun (Keeping Spring) Garden are the main scenic spots.

As its name suggests, the Cherry Blossom Garden is noted for its fascinating cherry blossoms. Today, with thousands of cherry trees sent from Japan and other parts of China, the garden is one of the largest in northern China. Every year, the Cherry Blossom Festival is held from March to April, drawing thousands of visitors. A waterside pavilion offers visitors a place to relax in the Chinese way: chatting while having a cup of tea and listening to birds singing.

Liuchun Garden offers a broad lawn of delicate pavilions with zigzaging corridors, luxuriant trees and blossoming flowers all the year round. By piecing bits of porcelain together, the colorful mosaic near the south entrance showcases the theme of the garden, "keeping spring." The sculpture of a girl playing a flute on the meadow enhances this leitmotif, and suggests the world's love for spring and youth. A square pavilion in the southwest gives a panoramic view of the garden. If you're lucky, you just might see an amateur performance in the fan-shaped pavilion in the west of this garden.