Zhongshan Park is located to the west of Tian’anmen Rostrum in the heart of the Inner City. It is a grand example of classical Chinese landscape
gardening, famous for many old cypress trees, some of which are over 1,000 years old.

Over 1,000 years ago the site of Zhongshan Park was the Temple of National Prosperity,
which stood in the northeast suburbs of Yanjing, the Liao Dynasty capital. Under the Yuan
Dynasty (1279-1368), the name of the temple was changed to the Temple of Longevity and
National Prosperity. In 1421, Emperor YongLe requested the SheJi Tan altar to be built here
around 1421 to be used for sacrifices to the God of Grain. In 1914, the altar was renamed
Central Park and opened to the public on October 10. In 1928, the park was renamed
Zhongshan Park in tribute to the memory of Sun Yat-sen. The park has been partly
redeveloped since 1949 with the beginning of the People's Republic.

Covering an area of 240,000 square meters, the Park comprises the Altar, the Zhongshan
Hall, the Concert Hall, Xiliting (Pavilion for Rehearsing Rites), Lantingbei (Steles of the
Orchard Pavilion), Tanghuawu and 307- bay Long Corridor.

The Altar, the main structure of the Park is a 3-tier square terrace of white marbles, symbolizing
The Square Earth. The top tier is covered with earth in five different colors (yellow, blue, red,
white, and black), which was a tribute from all over the country. Symbolic of both the feudal
dictum-all land under the Heaven belongs to the Emperor,  and the five elements (gold, wood,
water, fire, and earth), which make up all things.

In this park, you also can see some other ancient structures and beautiful scenery. The large
vestibular pavilion with long corridors running of the east and west; the beautiful specimen of
Taihu Lake stone known as “a slice of dark clouds”; the greenhouse with fresh flowers on
display all year round, include 39 varieties of tulips presented to the park in 1977 by the
Princess of Holland; Lotus Pool, Water-side Pavilion and so on.