Tue, August 05, 2008
The best-kept courtyard house in Beijing is Gong Wang Fu, or the Prince Gong's Palace. Covering 5.7 hectares of land in the core area of Beijing, it is the world's largest courtyard house and is a comparatively well preserved Princes residence in Beijing City.
The palace consists of three lines of buildings and is divided into two parts, the living quarter and garden. In the living quarter structure, there are five courtyards from south to north in file.
On the central line stand one behind another, three structures: the Main Hall, the Rear Hall and a 160-meters-long building with more than 40 rooms. Three courtyard houses form each of the east and west lines.
A garden lies at the back of the residence. Altogether, the complex has over 20 separate areas, each different in layout and style. Part of the garden inside the Prince Gong's Residence is in the northern side of the living quarter where turning corridor, pavilion, mountain rock, flowers and trees are all in elegant layout. In the stone cave of the rockery above the lake, there is the Emperor Kang Xi's inscription of Chinese character (Good Fortune).
Address:
No.14, Liuyin Street, Xicheng District
Opening Hours:
8:30 to 17:00
Admission Fee:
RMB 20
