Southern Beijing's Daxing district is making efforts to make Nanhaizi a new calling card of the city, according to a forum held on Dec 8, 2018.

The forum invited a group of historians and experts on Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) gardens and architecture to offer suggestions on promoting the Nanhaizi culture.

Nanhaizi is an area located at the front edge of the Yongding River's alluvial fan, about 10 km away from South Beijing.

“Haizi”, a term from the Sui (581-618) and Tang (618-907) dynasties, is what some ethnic groups in inland areas of Northern China used to call the low-lying wetland.

During the reign of Kublai Khan who established the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) and built Dadu in modern-day Beijing, the name “haizi” became widespread in northern Zhongyuan, or China's Central Plains.

In the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), today's Jishuitan in Beijing was called “Beihaizi”, or “north haizi”, so the Nanhaizi in southern Beijing's Daxing was called “Nanhaizi”.

As an important part of the Xishan Mountain and Yongding River Cultural Belt, Nanhaizi is positioned to be developed into a cluster of imperial cultural sites.

Nanhaizi used to be the largest wetland in South Beijing and has been a leisure center with a healthy ecological system.

Nanhaizi is now also the habitat of milu, a native species of deer that all but faced extinction.

Daxing has planned an 11.65-sq-km wetland park, the largest in the capital city. Its first phase has been opened and the second will be completed in July this year.

The project, which is supported by the CPC Beijing Municipal Committee and the government, is a move to echo the city's development plan for South Beijing.

Meanwhile, the district has been restoring and protecting its cultural relics, including the Tuanhe Xinggong (temporary dwelling place of an emperor) and Deshou Temple in Nanhaizi.

It will sort out the historical documents about Nanhaizi, explore more function of the Tuanhe Xinggong in modern times, and restore the Deshou Temple.

Relying on the historical and cultural resources of Tuanhe Xinggong, the district will set up a Xinggong cultural expo park to display the historical relics, documents and intangible cultural heritage of Xinggong across the country.