Taoranting Park,or Carefree Pavilion Garden,situated in the southwest, derives its name from the Carefree Pavilion that once stood on the grounds of the Temple of Mercy (Cibeiyuan). It is a city park located to the north of Beijing's Southern Railway Station in Xuanwu District, the southern part of the city. A former location for literati to get together, while most of Beijing's gardens were reserved only for imperial families during the Qing Dynasty, it gained its name from a poem by the Tang Dynasty poet Bai Juyi, Wait till the chrysanthemums are yellow and home-made wine is ripe, (I'll) drink with you and be carefree.
The park has a total area of 59 acres, and water area accounts for 17 acres. It was built in 1952. There are Cibei An, Taoran Pavilion in it. It also hosts the tomb of Gao Junyu and Shi Pingmei as well as that of Sai Jinhua.Taoran Pavilion was built in Kangxi 34th year (1695), Qing Dynasty. The director of Engineering Department, Jiang Zao, who supervised the kiln workshop, oversaw the construction.During the Jin Dynasty the Taoranting Park lay in the suburbs of the capital. On the southwestern side of the Central Island in the lake was a small hillock on which stood the ruins of the Temple of Mercy of the Liao Dynasty. Today Liao and Jin dynasty stone pillars inscribed with Buddhist scriptures can still be found here. The park has a lake with many pavilions scattered around its bank. It is popular with residents and visitors for walking and boating.












