Shichahai
Historic cluster of three lakes and hutong alleys, once the Grand Canal's northern terminus and a winter skating ground.
Location
About this audio guide
This guide to Shichahai in Beijing opens on a November night in 1908, when a procession of eunuchs and guardsmen crossed these lakeshores to carry off a two-year-old boy who would become China's last emperor. You'll hear about his fight against them, his coronation weeks later in the Forbidden City, and the eight-hundred-year history of these lakes as the Grand Canal's northern terminus and a Qing-era ice-skating ground. Look toward the mansion's northern shore, still standing behind its high walls.
This audio guide was created using AI.
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