YingTai Island (Beijing)

 temple, residence, island, banqueting hall

(Chinese: 瀛台) Located in the Southern Sea, the artificial island was completed by in 1421 by Ming emperor Zhu Di after he relocated his capital to Beijing. The island was given its current name by Qing Emperor Shun in 1655. Yingtai Island is connected with the shore via a stone bridge. Due to the slope of the island, the northern elevation of the island's main temple is a single-story building while the south elevation is a two-story pavilion, called "Penglai Pavilion." There are two temples to the north of Hanyuan Temple, Qingyun Temple to the east and Jingxing Temple to the west. In July 1681 the Qing Emperor Kangxi held the "Yingtai hearings,"[46] on the development of a national strategy to put down civil strife. Dowager Empress Cixi imprisoned Emperor Guangxu at Hanyuan Temple on Yingtai in August 1898 after the failure of Hundred Days Reform. Emperor Guangxu was subsequently poisoned and died here in 1898.

After 1949 Yingtai was used as the site of banquets and other hospitality activities. According to some sources Jiang Zemin lived in Hanyuan Temple on Yingtai Island during his time as Paramount Leader.