Goodmorning,ladiesandgentlemen:

　　Iamverygladtoserveasyourguidetoday.YoucancallmeLily.Pleasekeepmynamecardathand.fyouhaveanytroubleorloseyourway,justcallme.Mynumberishere.I’lldomybesttoserveforyou.

　　NowweareinfrontofthePrinceGong’sMansion.ItwastheresidenceofHeShen.HewasthePrimeMinisteryandtheMinisterofDefenceintheyearsofQanlong,themostprosperousstageofQingDynasty.In1850s,themansionwasbestowedonPrinceGong.ComparedwiththeForbiddenCity,itseemstobealittlelessfamous.WhywecomehereTheanswerisitsfirstowner,HeShen,isaveryfamouspersoninChinesehistory.EveryChineseknowshimnomatterthekidsortheold.Thereareevenmanynovels,poems,moviesandTVseriestellinghisstory.Whyishesowell-known?BecausehewasthecorruptestofficialinChinesehistory.Youcan’timaginehowlargeamountofhisgraftis.ThesuccessiveEmperorJiaqingsentencedHe′todeathandtookpossessionofhistreasure.Themoneyheleftbehindamountedto4,000tonsofsilver,equalingtenyears’incomeofthenationaltreasury.IfyouchangeitintoUSdollars,itis520billion!Iwonderhowhegotsolargeamountofmoneyinonlyonelife.Certainly,hepaidlotsofmanpowersandmaterialstobuildhisownmansion.ItisthelargestandthebestpreservedPrinceMansioninBeijing.Asyousee,thePalaceMuseumisgrand,nationalandformal.Ithinkthisoneismorepersonal.YoucanseeanotherstyleofChinesebuilding.Now,let’sbeginourwonderfulvisit.Followme,please!

　　ThegateyouseeiscalledWesternGate.Areyoufamiliarwithit?Yes,thearchitectlearnedsomethingfromEurope.Nowadays,itisverycommontoseetherearedifferentkindsofstylescomingfromdifferentcountriesinagarden.ButinQingDynasty,theemperordidn’twantanycommunicationwithothercountries.Sothiskindofgatewasreallyrare,atthattime.TherewereonlythreeWesternGatesalloverthecountry.Onewasthis.Theothertwowerebothinimperialgarden.

　　Let’senterthegarden..Canyousmellthefreshairandsweetfragrance?It’sreallycomfortable.Payattentiontothethinstone,please.Itisnotartificialbutnatural.tsnameisJoyPeak.InChina,it’straditiontoputahugestoneorscreeninfrontofthegate.Itcanprotectthegoodluckandwealthfromflowingawayandwardoffevilspirits.Itisstilltruetoday.Besides,becauseofitsexistenceyoucan’tseetheinnerscenedirectly.You’llbecuriousandhaveastrongdesiretogoin.But,thisonehasanotherspecialfunction.Lookatitusingyouimagination.Whatdoesitlooklike?（Hereandhere）Yes!Itlookslikeaholymotherhuggingherson.EventhoughHe′hadmanywives,hestilldidn’thaveasoninhismiddleage.Hewassoworriedaboutthisuntilhefoundthisstone.Heexpecteditwouldbringhimason.ItiswonderfulthatHe′gottheonlysoninhislifethenextyear.Whatahappycoincidence!

　　Aftergoingaroundthestone,theBatPondcomesintoourview.Itgetsthisnamebecauseitsshapewaslikeabat.Whyhelikesuchananimal?EvenmyselfasaChinesecan’tunderstandthisatfirst.INmostpeople’smind,thisanimalrepresentssomethingevil.NowIgettheanswer.InChinese,thepronunciationofbatis…andthepronunciationofhappinessis…Theyarethesame!Thereare9999batsinthegarden.ThisisoneofthespecialtiesofPrinceGong’sMansion.Ofcourse,theyarenotreal,heyarepicturesorsymbols.Haveyounoticedthefourelmtreesaroundth