Fragrant Hills: Difference between revisions

| other namealt_name =Fragrant Hills Park, Xiangshan Park

'''Fragrant Hills Park'''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.xiangshanpark.com/en/|title=Fragrant Hills Park}}</ref> or '''Xiangshan Park''' (香山公园) is a public park and former imperial garden at the foot of the [[Western Hills]] in the [[Haidian District]], [[Beijing]], [[China]]. It was also formerly known as '''Jingyi Garden''' or "Jingyiyuan" (靜宜園). It covers {{convert|395|acres|order=flip|sp=us|abbr=on}} and consists of a natural [[pine-cypress forest]], hills with [[maple trees]], [[Cotinus|smoke tree]]s and [[persimmon|persimmon trees]], as well as landscaped areas with traditional architecture and cultural relics. The name derives from the park's highest peak of Fragrant Hills, Xianglu Feng (Incense Burner Peak), a {{convert|557|m|sp=us|adj=on}} hill with two large stones resembling incense burners at the top.

The syllable ''xiang'' in the Fragrant Hills' Chinese name ''Xiangshan'' refers to incense, not fragrance ''per se''. This name is perhaps derived from the name of the highest peak ''Xianglu Feng'' (香炉峰), literally: "{{Lit|Incense-burner Peak"}}). The bronze-cast incense burner (with remote roots in [[Chinese ritual bronzes|ritual bronzes]]) being a common article found in temples. Indeed, incense was also often used as a metonym for temples.

The park was built in 1186, induring the rule of the [[Jin dynasty (1115-12341115–1234)|Jin dynasty]], (1115 to 1234)and andwas expanded during the [[Yuan dynasty|Yuan]] and [[Ming dynasty|Ming dynasties]]. In 1745, the [[Qianlong Emperor]] (1711–1799) of the [[Qing dynasty]] ordered the addition of manyseveral new halls, pavilions and gardens andto gavethe itpark, arenaming newit name,the Jingyi Palace ("Garden of Tranquility and Pleasure). Many of the relics in the park were damaged by foreign troops during two major attacks". In 1860, British troopsand French forces setburnt the [[Old Summer Palace]] ablaze, burning it toduring the ground[[Second alongOpium with the Gardens of Perfect BrightnessWar]], causingwhich caused extensive damage to many relics in the park. AnotherDuring attackthe in[[Boxer 1900Rebellion]], activities by troops of the [[Eight-Nation Alliance]] caused destructionled to thefurther park anddamage to the [[Summerpark. Palace]]Since built1949, bythe [[Empressgovernment Dowagerof CixiChina]]. Since 1949, the Chinese government has been engaged in continuous restoration and development in the area.

The Fragrant Hills Parkpark 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 Hills Hotel, designed by [[I. M. Pei]], which is more traditional than most of his designs.