Beijing Zoo restores ancient garden

Peonies are blossoming around ancient verandas and rockeries at the Beijing Zoo, attracting many tourists. In recent years, the zoo has made efforts to restore the historical garden, the Beijing Youth Daily reported.

The place is called the Peony Garden. During the late Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) and the Republic of China period (1912-1949), the garden was an important place to appreciate peonies - and even visited by Empress Dowager Cixi (1835-1908) herself several times; later, the garden was occupied by the bird cages. Experts say the garden has around 430 peonies of more than 20 species, including some rare kinds. Some of the plants were probably planted during the Qing Dynasty.