Overlooking Beihai Traditional Geocache
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You simply cannot miss Beihai Park, it is the center of Beijing and has been a place for enjoyment for more than 1000 years.
Beihai Park is located in the center of Beijing. It is one of the oldest, largest, and best preserved ancient imperial gardens in China. The construction of Beihai Park started in 938 in the Liao Dynasty. During the Jin Dynasty the Taining Palace was built from 1166 to 1179. Later the Taihu stones in the imperial garden of the Northern Song Dynasty were moved here onto the Qionghua Islet.
In 1267 Kublai Khan gave orders to build the capital of the Yuan Dynasty centered around the Taining Palace and Qionghua Islet. In 1420 the capital of the Ming Dynasty was officially moved to Beijing and Beihai Park was known as Xiyuan (West Garden) because it is to the west of the Forbidden City. During Emperor Qianlong's reign during the Qing Dynasty, he decided to expand and renovate the imperial garden which established the scope and layout of today's Beihai Park.
On the highest point of the Qionghua Islet (Jade Islet) stands the majestic White Dagoba, the landmark of Beihai Park.
Underneath the hill of Beihai Park is a man-made cave. If you go under the hill to see the cave you may not be impressed by today's standards for a cave, but remember, this was man-made a long time ago, quite a feat at that time. The trail to the cave is also lined with man-made stones that look quite authentic. You don't have to go into the cave. You can get to the same pathway for the cache without going inside.
Along the pathway when leaving the cave I found a spot (just off the path) that I couldn't resist to place a new cache. It gives a nice view of the lake below, the White Dagoba above, and a nice little spot just to take in a little rest. In the summer there are a lot of weeds, making it much harder to locate the cache.
Before you look for the cache you may want to enjoy walking around the lake. It usually will have many common and traditional activities like people playing music, singing, and sometimes even dancing.
I hope you enjoy the park and please be very careful returning the cache to the proper location so that it may be preserved to protect it from muggles and maintenance workers. Watch out for tourists watching from above and employees watching from below.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
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