Posted by Juhn
At Shichahai, we reserved a meal at one of the restaurants lining the banks of the lake, board a boat and had our meal delivered to us via yacht.
A dozen four-passenger wooden boats and one 10-seater dock on the southern shore of Houhai, near Prince Gong's Palace.
Seats cost us 160 yuan per person per hour, and the boats can be rented until 11pm.
Recommended restaurants for making reservations include the Zhejiang-style Kongyiji Restaurant and the Muslim-style Kaorouji, which is famous for roast mutton.Posted by Alex
The water area of Shichahai was called "haizi" prior to the Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368). It consisted of Xihai, Qianhai and Houhai which were unknown to the public. With Beihai Lake becoming an imperial backgarden, some 20 temples were built in the area of Shichahai Lake. It was said that these temples were established for the convenience of women to leave the imperial families. "Cha" refers to a small temple while "shi" can mean "tens", hence the name of Shichahai.
About several years ago, Shichahai was just a peaceful town of the increasingly modernized metropolis of Beijing. On a sunny afternoon, we went to Shichahai from any place, Deshengmen or Di’anmen. Roaming about the labyrinth of hutongs (lanes), we hardly imagined that this place used to be festooned with temples. Guanghua Temple which was built during the Yuan Dynasty now serves as the premises of the Beijing Buddhism Association.