Beijing: Peking University, Tsinghua, Yuanmingyuan – and the Great Wall from Qin, Han to Ming

The Egyptian pyramids,

the Roman Colosseum,

Cambodia’s Angkor Wat,

the world’s wonders are many,

and yet the Great Wall of China stands at the top of the list.

And Yuanmingyuan is hailed as the garden of all gardens.....

1. The Beginnings – Tsinghua Garden

In Beijing’s western suburbs, undulating hills, varied terrain,

free-flowing streams, and dense springs and lakes

fed the Kunming Lake, with Jade Spring water running west to east.

During the Wanli reign of the Ming dynasty,

Marquis Wuqing Li Wei launched a grand construction project,

building the splendid Tsinghua Garden, acclaimed as the finest estate in the capital

(the site was outside the west wall of today’s Peking University, not present-day Tsinghua Campus).

After Li Wei’s death, his descendants inherited the garden.

It was damaged when the Ming fell, but much of the layout survived.

The Xigou Bridge on the north side – a fine Ming remnant – now lies inside Peking University’s west gate.

2. Imperial Garden – Changchun Garden

After the Manchu entered China, they couldn’t bear Beijing’s sweltering summers.

Following a Forbidden City fire, they built towering palace walls,

courtyards nested within courtyards,

and the sluggish water felt lifeless.

Early in the Kangxi reign, on the ruins of Tsinghua Garden,

Changchun Garden was created (west of today’s Peking University).

Later, Yongzheng and Qianlong used it as a base

to construct Yuanmingyuan and Qingyi Garden (Guangxu’s Summer Palace).

The Summer Palace architectural complex

3. The Emperor’s Gardens – the Five Yuanming Gardens

During Kangxi’s time, Yuanmingyuan was a gift garden for Prince Yong (Yongzheng),

roughly occupying the Jiuzhou area, celebrated for its water features.

When Yongzheng ascended the throne, he elevated Yuanmingyuan to an imperial garden,

expanding it to over 3000 mu – five times its gift-garden size,

and more than three times the size of Kangxi’s Changchun Garden.

From 1725, court sessions were held at Yuanmingyuan’s main gate, replacing Changchun Garden.

It became the highest-ranking imperial garden of the Qing dynasty,

used by every subsequent emperor.

During Qianlong’s reign, the neighbouring princely gardens were incorporated,

creating a 1+4 garden layout:

the main Yuanmingyuan + Changchun Garden (today’s Xiyang Lou area),

Qichun Garden (now part of Tsinghua University),

Xichun Garden (formed by merging small gardens between the earlier three),

and Chunxi Courtyard, covering more than 6000 mu in total.

Jiaqing and Daoguang later granted away Chunxi Courtyard and Xichun Garden,

forming the present-day Three Yuanming Gardens.

A restored section of Qichun Garden

Black swans beside the Xiyang Lou ruins

4. Xichun Garden – Tsinghua University

Under Daoguang, Xichun Garden was split in two:

East Xichun and West Jinchun.

In the Xianfeng reign, Xichun Garden was renamed Tsinghua Garden.

When Anglo-French forces burned the imperial gardens in 1860,

both Jinchun and Tsinghua gardens escaped destruction.

During Tongzhi’s reign, more than 200 halls and covered corridors were dismantled,

the timbers carted off to rebuild parts of Yuanmingyuan.

In 1911, the Office of US Affairs moved into Tsinghua Garden,

establishing Tsinghua Academy.

By 1913, the academy had absorbed Jinchun Garden and other lands,

eventually growing into today’s Tsinghua University.

Tsinghua University’s Tsinghua Garden gate

5. The Burning of Yuanmingyuan – A Cultural Catastrophe

In 1860, Yuanmingyuan was looted and torched by Anglo-French forces,

leaving behind one of history’s great cultural disasters.

Attempts to rebuild it under Tongzhi and Guangxu never came to fruition.

After the Qing fell, the garden was left unguarded.

Warlords carted off countless scholar’s stones and stone carvings:

the marble columns and lions now seen at Peking University,

the Wenyuan Ge stele at the National Library, and more.

In the Republican era, the wooden pillars and beams of bridges were sawn away,

trees large and small felled indiscriminately.

By then, Yuanmingyuan was a devastated ruin.

In 1983 it was designated a heritage park;

after successive protection, restoration, and rebuilding works,

it became the Yuanmingyuan we see today.

Yuanmingyuan ranks alongside the Parthenon in Greece, the Egyptian pyramids,

and the Roman Colosseum.

It was the only officially designated imperial garden in Qing documents,

the longest-serving, largest, and highest-ranking one,

where the five emperors – Yongzheng, Qianlong, Jiaqing, Daoguang, Xianfeng –

spent far more time than they ever did in the Forbidden City.

6. The First Great Walls – Pre-Qin Walls

Wall-building in China goes back to the Western Zhou dynasty.

To fend off northern nomads, the Zhou built chains of garrison forts – “arrayed cities” – for defence.

During the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods,

rival states erected border fortifications;

for the first time, these were called “changcheng” (long walls).

To distinguish them from Qin Shi Huang’s 10,000-li wall,

historians call them the Pre-Qin Great Walls.

After Qin Shi Huang, almost every Chinese dynasty built walls,

the total length across all dynasties exceeding 100,000 li.

The Qin, Han, and Ming dynasties undertook the most important constructions.

A distant view of Jiankou Great Wall

7. Qin and Han – the 10,000-li Walls

The early Qin Wall mainly repaired and linked

Warring States walls of Qin, Zhao, and Yan,

built by General Meng Tian’s troops and local people.

Later, a new wall was raised from Lintao (now in Gansu)

east to Liaodong (now Liaoning),

roughly 10,000 li long, and thus first called the “10,000-li Great Wall”.

Nearly a million workers were mobilized,

about one-twentieth of the country’s population at the time.

After Emperor Wu of Han ascended, he drove the Xiongnu to the northern desert,

repaired Meng Tian’s Qin wall, and built a new one

stretching from the north bank of the Heilong River in the east

to Central Asia in the west – over 10,000 km.

Han was China’s most prolific wall-building dynasty.

8. The Ming Dynasty – Inner and Outer Walls

The Ming Great Wall consists of inner and outer sections.

The outer wall runs from the Yalu River in the east to Jiayuguan in the west,

over 10,000 li.

The inner wall runs from Laoying Fort in Shanxi east to Juyongguan near Beijing,

some 2,800 li.

The two lines meet near Mutianyu in Beijing’s Huairou district.

Heading north from there: the outer wall passes through Yanqing into Hebei,

continues northwest via Zhangjiakou, Datong in Shanxi,

to Piantou Pass, and finally Jiayuguan.

Heading west: the inner wall passes Juyongguan (Badaling),

exits Beijing at Lingshan into Zhuolu in Hebei,

then reaches Yanmen Pass, Ningwu Pass, and Piantou Pass in Shanxi,

rejoining the outer wall on the Baiyang Ridge east of Piantou Pass.

To the east, the three Inner Passes: Daoma, Zijing, and Juyong.

To the west, the three Outer Passes: Piantou, Ningwu, and Yanmen.

The Zhengbai Tower at Jiankou

Mutianyu Great Wall steps

9. Jiankou – Wild, Steep, Sublime

The Jiankou Great Wall lies in Huairou, Beijing.

The wall here forms a giant W shape, like a fully drawn bow with an arrow nocked.

It is the steepest, wildest section in the capital region,

severely weathered yet largely untouched.

Jiankou is undeveloped – officially, climbing is forbidden,

but where there’s a will, there’s always a way,

and seasoned outdoor enthusiasts have blazed trails.

Catch the first 6 a.m. bus from Dongzhimen to Huairou;

alight at Huairou Beidajie, transfer to a bus bound for Mutianyu,

get off at Tianxianyu, and start a day-long hike and scramble.

If the weather is clear,

from the very village the scenery is idyllic.

Walk about 1.5 km to the trout farm – that’s the trailhead.

After being turned back at the usual entry point,

Sister Feng and I, with nerve and wits, found a new route.

I hardly remember the views on the way, but the near-vertical cliff face –

climbing it with bare hands was pure drama, self-inflicted.

Our summit point was none other than the Zhengbai Tower,

the highest point of Jiankou.

Up on the tower roof, in every direction nothing but sky and mountains –

one glance and I was conquered.

The wall snakes along the dragon-back ridges, winding until it vanishes from sight,

and you imagine it stretching all the way to the desert and the frozen north –

what a colossal undertaking, what ancient wisdom.

Jiankou’s broken wall

Walking along the wall, everywhere is shattered and ruined;

every brick tells a story of a remarkable past.

The sun and moon illuminate its glorious history:

the Great Wall was instrumental in the unity and golden ages of the Central Plains dynasties.

We ought to carry deep reverence for it.

Damaged Jiankou Great Wall

In 2012, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage determined that

the total length of all Great Walls across Chinese history is 21,196.18 km,

encompassing 43,721 heritage sites including wall bodies, trenches, individual structures, passes, and related facilities.

10. Tips & Practicalities

1. If your schedule and circumstances allow, visit Peking University and Tsinghua University. The aura of these top Chinese academies can only be felt in person.

2. Yuanmingyuan admission is 20 yuan, not including the Xiyang Lou area.

3. To climb Jiankou, take the very first bus; otherwise connections will be missed and you’ll lose time. The mountain base is staffed from 9 a.m. and entry is then denied.

4. Jiankou is extremely difficult. Honestly assess your outdoor fitness and ability before attempting.

5. The northern starting point of the Grand Canal lies in Tongzhou District. Little remains, but if canal culture fascinates you, a visit isn’t wasted. There’s a large, newly built cultural park.

The Tongzhou northern terminus of the Grand Canal

In the rivers and lakes, there are no strangers – only those we haven’t yet met.

Thank you, dear reader, for spending your time here.

A jar of wine, a life of wandering; one person, one horizon.

If I happen to meet you, don’t be surprised – I’ve been waiting for you.

Photos: Xiuli, Sister Feng, Yushu Text: Yushu

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