Yuyuantan Park

Yuyuantan Park (Jade Deep Lake Park, ) is one of major urban parks in the city of Beijing. This park covers a territory of about 137 hectares, 61 of which are covered by water. Yuyuantan is the largest water body in the park, and it literally means the Jade Deep Pond. The park is located between the western segment of Third Ring Road and the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse. The China Millennium Monument is located just to the south of the park, and the Chinese Navy Hospital is to the north of the Park. Central Radio & TV Tower can be viewed in the park.
Yuyuantan has a long history. During Liao Dynasty (907 - 1125) and Jurchen Jin Dynasty (1115 - 1234), Beijing was the secondary capital city of those two dynasties, and the area of current Yuyuantan was a notable attraction outside of the city at that time. However, there was no lake back in those days. At that time, the place of current Yuyuantan Park was just a low land.
The Yuyuantan Lake was first created during Qing Dynasty when Qianlong Emperor was the ruler. In the year of 1773, springs from Fragrant Hills were introduced into the low land and impounded to be a lake. Beside the lake, Qianlong Emperor built an imperial palace for short stays. In later half of Qing Dynasty, however, the palace was gradually abandoned, and the lake also almost dried up.
In 1960, Beijing government introduced water from Yongding River into the lake and made it revived. Yuyuantan became an urban park of Beijing. In 1990s, the rest parts of the park were built, and the sakura was widely planted in the park. Now, Yuyuantan Park become a well-known place to hold sakura festival in China.