Turkish poet Najom Hikme has a famous saying: "There are always two things in a person's life that will never be forgotten. These are the face of the mother and the face of the city."

In the mid-1980s, Professor Qian Xuesen initiated the establishment of urban science as the leading discipline of urban science. In the early 1990s, he proposed a 21st century urban model with Chinese characteristics - the scientific concept of Shanshui City. "Landscape City" refers to future urban planning in which the city will build a super-large garden. The city will have mountains and rivers, beautiful scenery, and the city's structure will meet the requirements of ecology. Human life in such a city will be integrated into nature. , to achieve the ideal realm and aesthetic principle of traditional Chinese philosophy of "unity of man and nature". From cities to rural areas, from palaces to private residences, from yangzhai to yinzhai, there is the idea of ??Feng Shui optimization of the harmony between heaven, earth and man.

In the main idea of ??Han culture, "water belongs to yin; water is active; water is downward." Confucius said: "The benevolent enjoy mountains, the wise enjoy water." Water is the mother of human civilization. The four great inventions of ancient mankind can be simply summarized as the four major river civilizations. Whether it is the Babylonian civilization in the two river basins or the Chinese civilization in the Yellow River basin, they have had an inseparable blood relationship with water from the beginning.

All cities with history were created by rivers. For a civilization like the Chinese civilization, which is dominated by agriculture, choosing water to live has become the first factor for people to choose a settlement. Therefore, in the ancient Chinese art of Feng Shui, "sheltering from the wind and finding water" has become the first factor for Chinese people to choose a residence. For example, the ideal residence described in "Ten Books on Yangzhai" should be: "Green Dragon on the left, white tiger on the right, Zhuque in the front, Xuanwu in the back." Here, "Green Dragon" and "Suzaku" both reflect the idea of ??being close to and close to the water. intention.

There is the Yongding River to the south of Beijing and Yanshan Mountain to the north; there is the Jinshui River in front of the Forbidden City and Jingshan Mountain to the north. Jinshui River was dug out and Jingshan was piled up, which is quite intriguing. The ancients believed that there is a god in the east, west, south and north, namely Qinglong, White Tiger, Suzaku and Xuanwu. The god of the south is Suzaku, and Suzaku belongs to fire, so there must be water in the south of the city to use water to overcome fire. The god of the north is Xuanwu, and Xuanwu belongs to water, so there must be a mountain in the north of the city to suppress the water.

It is said that when the Yuan Dynasty established its capital in Beijing, the capital of the Yuan Dynasty was planned by the astronomer and hydraulic scientist Liu Bingzhong and Guo Shoujing, who were masters of Feng Shui. The entire city was built according to the ancient system of "the ancestors on the left and the society on the right, facing the future market". The Feng Shui masters paid attention to mountains and water. At that time, the mountainous terrain of Beijing was established, and the only shortcoming was the insufficient water flow, so they introduced two water veins, above and below ground, into Beijing. After Zhu Di, King of Yan in the Ming Dynasty, selected Beijing as his capital, he not only wanted to use this geographical power, but also abolished the remaining royal power of the Yuan Dynasty. The Feng Shui masters at that time moved the central axis of the palace to the east, so that the original central axis of the Yuan Dadu Palace was placed in the west, in the "white tiger" position of Feng Shui, to suppress the remaining royal aura of the previous dynasty, and to chisel off the imperial palace on the original central axis. Dao Panlong Stone is built to build an artificial landscape mountain. In this way, a new Feng Shui pattern was formed.

The landscape city envisioned by Qian Xuesen combines traditional Chinese garden ideas with the entire city and the natural landscape conditions of the entire city. We want every citizen to live in gardens, rather than asking them to find gardens, green spaces and scenic spots. To build a landscape city, we must use the theories and experiences of urban science, architecture, and traditional garden construction, as well as high-tech (including biotechnology) and the creation of the masses. High-end landscape cities not only make use of natural terrain and are surrounded by mountains and rivers, but also artificial mountains and water.

The northwest of Beijing is mountainous and has less developable area. It should be said that the development potential is not as good as that of Nancheng and other areas, but it also has some characteristics that cannot be replicated in the region. Let’s talk about the mountains first. The overall terrain of the capital is high in the north and low in the south. The northwest is upwind and watery, with Xiangshan and Yuquan Mountains. The embrace of the mountains not only blocks the cold current from the northwest, but also accumulates cool air. Long-term monitoring shows that the summer temperature at the foot of the West Mountain is three or four degrees Celsius lower than that in the city center. Speaking of water, several major water systems in Beijing such as the Kunyu River, Yongding River, Jingmi Diversion Canal, Wanquan River, and Qing River do not originate in the northwest. , it flows through from then on, forming a unique ecological climate in the northwest; the third is gardens, the Summer Palace, Old Summer Palace, Beijing Botanical Garden, Xiangshan Park, and Badachu Park, they are so close that they have become neighbors; the fourth is green , while the natural vegetation is protected, the "Green Valley Oxygen Bar" in Sijiqing Township, Haidian has become Beijing's oxygen supply base, and the vast area in the northwest will benefit first.

Today, Beijing’s urban construction has undergone earth-shaking changes. As a modern city, "urban feng shui" has been given a new meaning: it mainly refers to its emphasis on rational layout, coordination with nature, etc., which is consistent with modern architecture. Under the guidance of traditional Feng Shui aesthetic principles such as the unity of man and nature and dynamic balance, reasonable layout, smooth roads, and beautiful environment will be more in line with modern people's lives and closer to the essence of the city.

The city of Beijing originates from the Yongding River system. The capital of the Jin Dynasty started from the lotus pond, while the capital of the Yuan Dynasty paid more attention to the water veins and called the water "sea" to form the "Six Seas", with the base point at the Back Gate Bridge. This pattern formed the basis for the construction of Beijing. The historical changes of the capital city revolve around water, and the water system is life. For example, the gates in the rivers that pass through the city ensure that water does not flow out of the city during the rainy season and that there is water storage during the dry season.

Improving the urban water system can restore the historical lifeline and help improve Beijing's ecological environment.

Beijing began to manage the urban water system in 1998. The first is to restore the Yuquan Mountain water system. This water system is also called the Imperial City Water System. It flows from Yuquan Mountain through the long river to the six seas, embodying the inherent connotation of Beijing's history and culture. Now the long river has clear water, green shores and is navigable, and the "Six Seas" (West Sea, Houhai, Qianhai, Beihai, Zhonghai and South China Sea, collectively referred to as the "Six Seas") including Shichahai have been dredged and stored. The lotus pond that had been dry for nearly 20 years has also been restored, and lotus flowers are in full bloom on the 15 hectares of rippling blue waves. To this end, the municipal government demolished more than 200 households and restored the style of the Back Gate Bridge. Professor Hou Renzhi of Peking University once made suggestions to the central government to preserve the location of the lotus pond. For decades, he has cycled or taken a taxi to see the Back Gate Bridge every year. Now the water-suppressing beast of the Yuan Dynasty has finally appeared on the Back Gate Bridge again. The old professor said: These are the two most basic things to restore and protect the ancient city. They are the key to truly finding the root of the capital's history and culture.

Water is the life source of the city. From ancient times to the present, the construction of urban gardens in Beijing has always gone hand in hand with the construction of urban water conservancy, from the West Lake Scenic Area (today's Lotus Pond) in ancient Jicheng, to Tongyuan Garden and Fish Algae Pond in Jinzhongdu, to the Taipei Palace in Dadu in the Yuan Dynasty. Liquid pool, until the Xiyuan Three Seas, Shichahai, Yuyuantan and "Three Mountains and Five Kingdoms" in the Ming and Qing dynasties, as well as today's Zizhuyuan Park and Yuyuantan Park. Taoranting Park, Longtan Lake Park and Red Scarf Park are all built on water, born with water and alive with water. The existence of these gardens in turn affects the construction and development of the urban water system, endowing it with rich historical and cultural connotations and a beautiful garden realm.