Before entering the park, let me talk about how it got the name “Purple Bamboo”.
As far as I know, in the northwestern
side of the park, there stood an imperial temple called “Purple Bamboo
Temple in Bliss”，afterwards the government named the park after it.
According to some historic records, the history of “Purple Bamboo
Temple” could be traced back to the Yuan Dynasty, in both Ming and Qing
Dynasties the temple was also the place where the imperial family took a
rest and waited to transfer boats during their boat trip to the Western
Hills. In the northeastern side of the park, an ancient stone wharf has
been preserved up till now.
Nowadays this Purple Bamboo Park has
become the first choice when residents nearby need to find a place for
doing exercise. You can see people strolling or jogging down a
pedestrian path, or ladies dancing together, or gentlemen singing loud,
sometimes even ladies reading poems passionately and an old guy playing
the erhu alone by the lake. Anyway you can feel the fun of life
everywhere in the park.
Every morning in the park, there’ll be a
spectacular scene of many strollers doing different kinds of exercises
along the pedestrian paths. The water area covers about one third of the
park’s whole area, forming a basic layout consisting of 3 lakes, 2
islands, 1 dike, 1 river and 1 water channel, landscaped with groves of
bamboos as the main feature. You may feast your eyes on surrounding
beautiful views while walking around the park, it’s totally like
“Getting the Best of Both Worlds”.
I have a kind reminder: Remember to
stretch fully every joint of your body before walking fast and
vigorously. After you finish, do not take a rest immediately, just take
10 more minutes to stretch the lumbar and hip muscles in order for your
metabolic waste to discharge properly.
Still remember the “Purple Bamboo
Temple in Bliss” that I mentioned earlier? Now the temple still stands
in the northwestern side where it used to be, it’s accessible down the
pedestrian path on the right from the east entrance gate. In 1990, it
was invaded and ransacked by the Eight-Nation Alliance. In Nov, 2010, on
the basis of previous archaeological excavation, official restoration
project got launched, the whole work completed in Aug, 2012.
The restored “Purple Bamboo Temple in
Bliss” is comprised of 2 major constituent parts, one is a dwelling
palace called Xinggong, the other is a monastery called Chanyuan,
important constructions are Favor-returning House, Front Hall, Covered
Corridor, East and West North-facing Houses, etc..
How do you like it so far? The Purple
Bamboo Park, with such a profound cultural background and long history,
is right here waiting for you. Just a pick a day to experience the fun
and leisure for yourself!
Opening Hours: 6:00-20:00 (Winter); 6:30-21:00 (Summer)
Ticket Price: For Free
Address: #35, Zhongguancun South Street, Haidian District, Beijing
Traffic Routes: subway route #4, #9 to
the Station of National Library of China, or bus route #332, 653,
express bus route #105 to the Station of National Library of China
Tel: 010-88412894
Resource:www.beijing-haidian.com
