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Beijing Prince Gongs Mansion

  • Prince Gong's Mansion is one of the most extravagant and best-preserved royal mansions in Beijing. The mansion buildings include several siheyuan courtyards, two-storey buildings, and even a grand Peking opera house. And there is a 28,000sqm garden with pavilions, artificial hills, ponds and other sceneries.

Profile

  • ID : 158
  • City : beijing
  • English name : Prince Gong Mansion
  • Chinese name : 恭王府
  • Type :
  • Level : easy
  • Kids : possible
  • Elders: suggested
  • Best season : Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter
  • Visiting length : 1-2 hours
  • Distance to city center : 0 km

Introduction

    • Prince Gong's Mansion is located at No. 17 Qianhai Xijie, Xicheng district, on the western shore of Shichahai Lake, to the northwest of the Forbidden City in Beijing.
      Prince Gong's Mansion is one of the few intact aristocratic residences from the Qing Dynasty. Besides the residence there is also a large garden. It is now entering another stage in its history. It is currently being transformed into a national museum supported by the Ministry of Culture.

Highlights

    Grand Theater House, Western-Style Gate

Helper to visit Prince Gong Mansion

  • Address in English : No. 17 Qianhai West Street, Xicheng District, Beijing
  • Address in Chinese : 北京市西城区前海西街17号
  • Tel : 86-10-83288149
  • Post code : 100009
  • Ticket time : 8:30-16:10
  • Open time : 8:30-17：00
  • Closing time : Every Nonday (except public holidays)
  • Location : Prince Gong Mansion is around 0 km to downtown beijing

    Transportation

    • East gate:
    • Public bus(Beihai North Station): 3, 4, 13, 42, 107, 111, 118, 612, Sightseeing Bus 3
    • Subway: Take Subway Line 6 and get off at Beihai North Station.
  • Private car is the best method to visit Prince Gong Mansion with local tour operator.

Admission

  • high season : 40 RMB/person.
  • shoulder season : 40 RMB/person.
  • low season : 40 RMB/person.

    Architecture of Prince Gong's Mansion

  • The princes' mansions were built with walled flower gardens. It is ingeniously constructed with complementary buildings and terraces, well spaced vegetation and hill paths that wind their way around pool and tranquil grottos. It is an exquisite combination of classical Chinese architecture and tasteful landscape. Princes Gong' mansion is composed of three complexes of buildings: central, eastern and western.
    Upon entering the main gate, the visitor can see magnificent buildings stand to the fore of the mansion on three axes in traditional Chinese style. In this mansion, however, the Central Spirit Hall was destroyed. The rear hall is a two-storey structure more than 180 metres wide. An unusual wooden artificial hill forms the flight of stairs which gives access to the building. The buildings to the east are Duofu Study, a structure in the Ming style is on the eastern axis. A Chinese wisteria plant with a history of more than 200 years is still growing in front of it.
    On each sides of Duofu Study are four courtyards. In the third courtyard, called Xijin Studio, there is a seven-roomed, exquisitely furnished hall. All the beams and pillars are made of nanmu, and its sandalwood partitions are reminiscent of those found in Ningshougong (Palace of Tranquil Longevity) in the Forbidden City. In the centre of the courtyard are two rare midget crabapple trees nearly 300 years old.

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      Garden of Prince Gong's Mansion

    • The garden in Prince Gong's Mansion is named Cuijin, meaning " concentrated cream of the most beautiful flowers". The garden covers 28,000 square meters and is studded with artificial hills, trees, flowers, pavilions, terraces and traditional buildings. From the arched stone gate in typical Western architectural style, people can see a 5-meter-high artificial Peak, which is a rock procured from Taihu Lake in southern China.
      The rear section of the garden has a multi-leveled artificial hill built of Lake Tai stones. The bottom level has tunnels running through it and contains a stone with the character "fu" (meaning happiness in Chinese) written on it in the calligraphy of Qing Emperor Kangxi (1662-1722). On the second level are two pools where fine lotuses bloom in late summer and early autumn. A small pavilion with a terrace stands on the hilltop and is considered an ideal place for viewing the moon. During the Mid-Autumn Festival, it is an ideal place for enjoying the entrancing full moon. A fishing pond stands in front of the hill. The eastern courtyard of the garden is surrounded by a low wall and contains a luxuriance of flowers and trees. Behind the rockery is the Fu Hall, where the calligraphic works and paintings of the Aisingero family of Manchu aristocrats are housed and exhibited. Behind the hill are masterpieces of garden architecture.
      Another lofty building contributing to the fame of the mansion is the theatre. This spacious theatre with subtle lighting, and painted walls of wisteria and greenery, gives the audience the feeling of sitting beneath trellises. The floor is paved in pseudo-gold brick, and the seats consist of old-fashioned wooden armchairs furnished with square tables. Here, people can enjoy Kunqu Opera, Peking Opera and imperial music.

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      History of Prince Gong's Mansion

    • The mansion was built in 1777. Formerly, it is the private residence of He Shen, a favorite minister of Qianlong during the Qing (1736-1796). Heshen (1750-1799), the infamous Manchu official. Thought to have been the Qianlong emperor's lover, he ruled China for his own gain when Qianlong abdicated in 1796, but his demise was swift. While he was mourning Qianlong in the Forbidden City, officials were dispatched to this mansion. Though the extent of his graft was widely known, officials were shocked by the piles of gold and silver ingots they uncovered. His remaining friends at court managed to persuade the Qianlong emperor's son to spare him from "death by a thousand cuts," but he was soon hanged.
      Later, this mansion was bestowed upon Prince Gong by Emperor Xianfeng (1851 - 1862) hence the name "Prince Gong's Mansion" or "Prince Gong's Palace". Prince Gong is the sixth son of the Guangxu emperor. At the age of 27, he was left to sign the Convention of Peking in 1860, after the Qing royal family took an early summer holiday when British and French forces advanced on the capital.
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