news

It is the peak season for summer tourism. With the successful application of Beijing's Central Axis for World Heritage status, various scenic spots on the Central Axis have also ushered in a new round of tourist peaks. A large number of Chinese and foreign tourists are immersing themselves in exploring the beauty of the Central Axis and feeling its unique cultural charm. Among the 15 heritage sites on the Central Axis of Beijing, three are municipal parks, namely the Temple of Heaven, Jingshan and Sheji Altar. Now, it has been half a month since the successful application of Beijing's Central Axis for World Heritage status. Yesterday, a Beijing Youth Daily reporter learned from the Municipal Park Management Center that the number of tourists to the above three heritage sites increased by 5% in the week after the successful application of World Heritage status compared with the previous week. Among them, the number of tourists to Jingshan increased the most, reaching 19%.

Temple of Heaven Park adds 74 "mobile chairs"

In order to enrich tourists' park experience and immerse themselves in the unique charm of Beijing's central axis, the city-owned parks such as the Temple of Heaven, Jingshan, and Zhongshan have upgraded their park services, adding "mobile chairs" in the parks, launching "cool" tour lines, launching mobile phone tour guides, and turning on night landscape lighting. At the same time, the park's cultural and creative stores have also "quickly" launched new cultural and creative products of the central axis, which have been popular among citizens and tourists.

Add "mobile road chairs"

Launch of "Cool" tour line

As one of the 15 heritage elements of Beijing's Central Axis, the number of visitors to the Temple of Heaven Park has continued to increase in recent days, with more than 100,000 visitors received every day.

A reporter from Beijing Youth Daily learned that in order to enhance tourists' summer park experience, the Temple of Heaven Park has added 74 new "mobile chairs" on the basis of the first "cultural awning" on the Danbi Bridge. They are mainly distributed in the ginkgo tree area at the second north gate of the park, on both sides of the south square of the Circular Mound, in the Huajia Gate area, and in the ancient Berlin west of the Echo Wall, where tourists gather to escape the summer heat and cool off, to meet the needs of tourists for sightseeing and rest.

According to Lv Yuxin, head of the publicity section of the Temple of Heaven Park, the newly arranged chairs are designed with large counterweights and are placed in a non-ground fixed manner, which not only ensures the safety of tourists during their rest, but also allows for flexible adjustment of their placement according to different needs. At the same time, in order to meet the rest needs of tourists traveling with their families and tourists with wheelchairs, the Temple of Heaven Park has also added barrier-free family chairs.

It is worth mentioning that the Temple of Heaven Park has recently launched three "cool" tour routes to help tourists avoid the summer heat and enjoy a cool tour of the Temple of Heaven. The Beijing Youth Daily reporter noticed that these three tour routes not only connect the main attractions such as the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, the Echo Wall, and the Circular Mound, but also all take place under the shade of ancient trees or in the shade of covered corridors.

Lv Yuxin introduced that the recommended tour routes all include the ancient tree area on the west side of the Danbi Bridge, where there are more than 100 ancient trees and chairs for tourists to rest under the shade of the trees. Tourists can avoid the sun and visit the scenic spots of the central axis of the Temple of Heaven up close. The Moon Gate, located on the west side of the Echo Wall and complementing the Welcoming Cypress, is also a must-go for the three cool tour routes. Tourists can avoid the large passenger flow on the central axis of the Temple of Heaven and pass through the Moon Gate accompanied by the Welcoming Cypress to feel the tranquility and comfort of the Temple of Heaven after the bustle of summer.

Turn on night landscape lighting

Launched mobile navigation function

As night falls, the five pavilions on the mountain of Jingshan Park, the Shouhuang Palace complex, the large long scroll-style landscape bonsai at the South Gate, the intangible cultural heritage theme landscape at the East Gate, the rare peony variety garden at the East Gate and other scenic spots are all lit up, allowing visitors to enjoy the coolness and comfort of the evening.

"After the successful application of Beijing's Central Axis for World Heritage status, the number of visitors to Jingshan Park has increased significantly. Many tourists visit the Forbidden City during the day and visit Jingshan in the evening. Usually, the peak visitor flow period of Jingshan Park is after 16:00." Wang Bing, deputy director of Jingshan Park, said, "We hope that tourists can calm down and appreciate the beauty of Jingshan and the charm of the Central Axis on relatively cool summer nights by turning on the evening landscape lighting."

Zhongshan Park has also upgraded its park services. At the end of July, the mobile phone guided tour function was launched. QR codes have been added to the signboards of major attractions such as Sheji Altar, Baowei Heping Square, and Laijin Yuxuan Tea House. Visitors can listen to the explanations by scanning the codes with their mobile phones. According to Xue Le, a staff member of the Management and Operation Section of Zhongshan Park, the mobile phone guided tour service covers 20 attractions in the park. The attractions are displayed using 720° panoramic views, VR (virtual reality), AR (augmented reality), AI (artificial intelligence) and other technologies, which allows visitors to have a deeper understanding of the history and culture of the Sheji Altar heritage site.

At the same time, with the increase in the number of tourists during the summer vacation, in order to ensure that tourists in the gate area can enter the park quickly and reduce waiting time in line, Zhongshan Park has increased the number of consultation and ticket sales staff at the comprehensive service window in the gate area to guide tourists to enter the park conveniently. The park has also increased the supply of affordable drinking water, affordable food and free hot water.

Landmark Architecture Exhibition

Visitors enjoy an art feast

The Shouhuang Palace complex in the north of Jingshan Park is the second largest complex of ancient buildings on the central axis of Beijing after the Forbidden City, and is also the core area of ​​Jingshan Park. With the successful application of the Beijing Central Axis for World Heritage status, the popularity of the Shouhuang Palace continues to rise.

To enrich the tourists' experience in the park, Shouhuang Temple recently launched a new exhibition, "Shanghai-style and Su-style bonsai joint exhibition", with 50 special bonsais bringing high-quality artistic enjoyment to tourists from all over the country. According to Zhou Mingjie, director of the Garden Technology Section of Jingshan Park, the exhibited works include 30 Shanghai-style bonsais and 20 Su-style bonsais, all of which are examples of the exquisiteness and elegance of southern bonsais.

The Shanghai-style bonsai from Shanghai Botanical Garden, with its eclectic shapes, shows the unique charm of Shanghai culture. "Golden-leaf five-needle pine is a representative of Shanghai-style bonsai, and Shanghai Botanical Garden is one of the institutions with the largest number of golden-leaf five-needle pine collections. Its leaves are brown and yellow, and its posture is simple and vigorous. Citizens and tourists are welcome to come and appreciate it." Ge Weijia, deputy director of the Bonsai Management Center of Shanghai Botanical Garden, recommended.

The Su-style bonsai from Suzhou's Humble Administrator's Garden is also one of the "five major schools" of Chinese bonsai. According to Feng Yuyu, deputy director of the Suzhou Humble Administrator's Garden Management Office, the 20 bonsai selected for Beijing this time include traditional tree species such as black pine, ground cypress, maple, and elm. One of the pine trees won the first prize at the 1999 Provincial Horticultural Exhibition. Some of the bonsai have been maintained for more than 40 years and are all fine products of the Su-style bonsai.

In addition to the new exhibits, there is a sand table of Beijing's central axis in the Shouhuang Palace's kitchen. The sand table almost completely displays all the scenic spots on Beijing's central axis, allowing visitors to more intuitively understand the charm of Beijing's central axis.

In addition, the Zhai Palace of the Temple of Heaven Park is holding the "Temple of Heaven Zhai Palace Historical and Cultural Exhibition", which provides an in-depth introduction to the pearl of Beijing's central axis - the Temple of Heaven. Its location, planning and layout are symmetrical with the Xiannongtan in the east-west layout along the central axis, highlighting the respect and emphasis on etiquette in traditional Chinese capital planning, and further demonstrating the leading role of Beijing's central axis in urban planning and layout.

This year marks the 110th anniversary of Zhongshan Park's opening to the public. Zhongshan Park plans to launch the "Zhongshan Park History Exhibition" at the end of September to comprehensively showcase the development and changes of Sheji Altar since its construction 604 years ago, and to interpret the unique, rich, diverse and inclusive cultural connotations of Sheji Altar (Zhongshan Park).

on site

Cultural and creative products are rapidly launched to highlight the central axis elements

The successful application of Beijing's Central Axis for World Heritage status has also boosted the sales of cultural and creative products. A Beijing Youth Daily reporter found that the cultural and creative stores in the city's parks have "quickly" launched a variety of cultural and creative products along the Central Axis, which are very popular among citizens and tourists.

On the second day after the successful application of Beijing's Central Axis for World Heritage, the Temple of Heaven launched the Central Axis refrigerator magnet, and the sales volume has exceeded 2,000 in the past two weeks. At the Qixi Cultural and Creative Store in the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests scenic area of ​​the Temple of Heaven, a reporter from Beijing Youth Daily saw this ID card-sized refrigerator magnet, which adopts the design of a stamp shape, with Chinese red as the main color, and golden three-dimensional patterns on it showing the main buildings of the Central Axis, such as the Bell Tower, Drum Tower, Jingshan, the Forbidden City, the Temple of Heaven, the Altar of Agriculture, and the Yongding Gate, as a tribute to the successful application of World Heritage. Holding up the Central Axis refrigerator magnet high and taking a photo with the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests has become a new way for tourists to check in at the Temple of Heaven recently.

During the visit, the Beijing Youth Daily reporter found that the central axis theme AR interactive refrigerator magnets are also hot-selling products recently. The Wanchun Pavilion light and shadow refrigerator magnets newly launched by Jingshan Park use the Jingshan Wanchun Pavilion and Jingshan peonies as the background. Visitors can open their mobile phones and scan to see the animation effect of the Jingshan Wanchun Pavilion peonies blooming. In the picture, the cute Forbidden City cat greets the visitors cordially, and the visitors seem to be traveling through the blooming peonies, taking in the beautiful scenery of Jingshan.

At the Tiantan Gift Cultural and Creative Store on the west side of the Danbi Bridge in the Tiantan Park, the "Temple of Heaven Spring Letter Fridge Magnet" and "Temple of Heaven Midsummer Dream Fridge Magnet" are placed in a prominent position in the store. On the "Spring Letter" refrigerator magnet, a pink dragon is circling below the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests. WeChat scans the interactive code in the package, and the camera is aimed at the refrigerator magnet. With a burst of bird calls, the refrigerator magnet "transforms" into a three-dimensional Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, with a pink dragon circling up, ready to come out. The "Midsummer Dream" refrigerator magnet is dotted with relief pine, cypress, and lily of the valley petals. In the AR interactive video, the three-dimensional Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests moves, with butterflies flying around it. In the real-life video of the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests in summer, it is surrounded by green trees, blue sky and white clouds, and is full of vitality.

"This is the first time I've seen a refrigerator magnet with AR interaction and naked-eye 3D functions. Cultural and creative industries have developed to such an advanced level!" said Ms. Hu, who came to Beijing from Shandong with her daughter, excitedly. "Especially with the iconic Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests on it, I can tell at a glance that it is a gift brought back from Beijing. It is very commemorative."

In Jingshan Park, the "Central Axis Incense Inheritance" incense set is also selling well. The outer shell of the incense is hollowed out to show the landmark buildings on the central axis. When the sandalwood is lit, the smoke floats out along these hollow patterns, starting from Yongdingmen, passing through Zhengyangmen, Tiananmen, Wumen Gate of the Forbidden City, Wanchun Pavilion of Jingshan, Di'anmen, and then to the Bell and Drum Tower. A stick of incense leads visitors along the central axis of Beijing, through ancient and modern times.

In addition, the blessing ice cream in the shape of the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests in the Temple of Heaven has also been launched. In addition to the four flavors of strawberry, mango, matcha and chocolate, vanilla and coconut milk flavors have been introduced.

dialogue

The open area of ​​the cultural relics protection zone has expanded by nearly 92,000 square meters

Interviewer: Li Wenhai, Director of the Cultural Relics Protection Department of Beijing Municipal Park Administration Center

Beijing Youth Daily: In recent years, what key tasks has the Municipal Park Management Center carried out to support the application of Beijing’s Central Axis for World Heritage status?

Li Wenhai: Since 2018, with the support and efforts of all parties, through the overall protection of cultural relics such as evacuation, protection and utilization, and repair, the three municipal parks located on the central axis have expanded the open area of ​​cultural relics protection areas by nearly 92,000 square meters. At the same time, the Municipal Park Management Center has continuously increased the revitalization and utilization of cultural relics and ancient buildings, and promoted the creative transformation and innovative development of China's excellent traditional culture in municipal parks. Exhibitions such as "Looking at the Central Axis from the Top of the Forbidden City", "The Current and Vision of the Central Axis", and "The Historical and Cultural Exhibition of the Shouhuang Palace" were held, and voluntary interpretation services were provided to tourists, leading citizens and tourists to immerse themselves in the process and achievements of the protection of the central axis. By creating cultural and creative spaces and intangible cultural heritage cultural and creative products, the Beijing Central Axis is not only a place of interest admired by tourists, but also a beautiful home for citizens to live in.

Beijing Youth Daily: Authenticity and integrity are two important principles of world heritage. They are not only the yardstick for measuring the value of heritage, but also the key to protecting heritage. What efforts has the Municipal Park Management Center made in the protection and utilization of the three heritage sites?

Li Wenhai: The Municipal Park Management Center insisted on coordinating the work of evacuation and renovation with landscape improvement, and successively completed more than 100 hectares of landscape and greening renovation of the Temple of Heaven, Jingshan Park and Zhongshan Park. Many scenic spots restored the original historical appearance of cultural relics and reopened to tourists, which greatly enhanced the historical and cultural heritage atmosphere of the park and the historical immersion experience of tourists, and better assisted the application of Beijing's Central Axis for World Heritage.

For example, the renovation project of the corridor of the Temple of Heaven Park is a typical ancient building renovation project carried out in recent years. The project started on July 5, 2022 and was completed on May 25, 2023. It is the second major renovation of the corridor area after 1977. All renovation projects use traditional materials and techniques. On the basis of renovation and protection, through reference and research, the Yawu Mo Xuanzi colored paintings in the corridor were restored in particular to show tourists the ancient building colored painting patterns that conform to the authenticity of official colored paintings and reproduce the historical landscape of the "Seventy-two Lianfang" in the Qing Dynasty. In conjunction with the renovation of the corridor, the Temple of Heaven Park has upgraded the exhibition and display cabinet equipment in the corridor area and the Beishenchu ​​exhibition hall. All display cabinets have been upgraded to adjustable light sources to achieve the best viewing effect.

In addition, the original sites of the bumper cars and Yile Hall in Zhongshan Park were once planted with cypress trees, which were an important part of the overall appearance of the Sheji Altar in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. In order to restore the historical appearance of the Sheji Altar and the historical information of the altar, the park demolished the Yile Hall and bumper car buildings in accordance with the overall plan, planted an appropriate amount of cypress trees, and restored the tradition of "planting ceremonial trees around the ancient altar."

Beijing Youth Daily: In the future, how will the Municipal Park Management Center further improve its heritage protection capabilities and levels?

Li Wenhai: We will practice the new era cultural relics work policy of "protection first, strengthening management, exploring value, effective utilization, and bringing cultural relics to life". We will take the protection and development of the central axis as a new starting point, based on the high-quality development of the capital, and fully combine the Beijing Urban Master Plan and the Beijing Central Axis Protection and Management Plan to effectively improve the heritage protection capabilities and levels, continue to promote the digitization of cultural relics, and let more people feel the cultural charm of the ancient capital.

Temple of Heaven Park "Cool" Summer Tour Route

Route 1:

South Gate of Temple of Heaven Park—Circular Mound, Echo Wall Scenic Spot—gate on the west side of Echo Wall—Moon Gate of Welcoming Cypress—Ancient Tree Area on the west side of Danbi Bridge—West Gate of Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests—Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests—East Gate of Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests—Long Corridor—East Gate of Temple of Heaven Park

Route 2:

North Gate of Temple of Heaven Park—East Gate of Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests—Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests—West Gate of Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests—Ancient Tree Area on the West Side of Danbi Bridge—Winter Gate of Welcoming Cypress—Turntile Gate on the West Side of Echo Wall—Echo Wall, Circular Mound Scenic Spot—South Gate of Temple of Heaven Park

Route three:

West Gate of Temple of Heaven Park - Zhai Palace - Three Gates - Gate on the west side of Echo Wall - Circular Mound, Echo Wall Scenic Spots - Gate on the west side of Echo Wall - Moon Gate of Welcoming Cypress - Ancient Tree Area under the west side of Danbi Bridge - West Gate of Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests - Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests - East Gate of Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests - Long Corridor - East Gate of Temple of Heaven Park

Source: Beijing Youth Daily

Author: Wang Bin Yuan Yi

Process Editor: u028