The Diaoyutai State Guesthouse (DSG)[1] [2] is an ancient royal garden and modern state guesthouse-complex located on the east side of Yuyuantan Park in Haidian District, Beijing, China. Emperor Zhangzong of Jin once built a fishing platform here, thus the name "Diaoyutai", which has a history of more than 800 years. During the Qing Dynasty, the Qianlong Emperor ordered to dredge the Yuyuantan and build a palace here, which was then turned into a royal garden. The modern State Guesthouse Park was built by the government of the People's Republic of China in 1958-1959 on the basis of the ancient Diaoyutai Scenic Spot, as a place for visiting dignitaries to stay and for meetings and conferences. Diaoyutai State Guesthouse is located outside Fuchengmen in western Beijing, east of Yuyuantan, southwest of the intersection of Fucheng Road and Sanlihe Road.
The State Guesthouse Park is about 1 kilometer long from north to south and 0.5 kilometer wide from east to west, with a total area of 420,000 square meters, a total building area of 165,000 square meters and a lake area of 50,000 square meters. Landmarks in the vicinity of Diaoyutai State Guesthouse include the Naval General Hospital (now The Sixth Medical Center of the General Hospital of the Chinese People's Liberation Army), State Administration of Foreign Exchange, China Central Radio and Television Tower, China Central Television (CCTV), China Millennium Monument, State Administration of Taxation, China Railway Corporation, Military Museum, National Bureau of Statistics, and Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council.
The guesthouse is located in Beijing's Haidian District, to the west of Sanlihe Road and to the east of Yuyuantan Park. The compound includes guesthouses connected by waterways, lakes, and traditional-style arched bridges.
Emperor Zhangzong of Jin once built a fishing platform here, which gave the name of "Diaoyutai" and has a history of more than 800 years.[3] In 1763, the old site of the Yuzao Pond was dredged into a lake, and the water of Xiangshan Mountain was introduced to the moat outside the Fuchengmen Gate, which was called "Yuyuantan". In 1774, the imperial edict was issued to build the Diaoyutai. The emperor inscribed "Diaoyutai" on it.
The Government of the People's Republic of China, Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party Mao Zedong and Premier Zhou Enlai, in order to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, and to receive foreign heads of state and government coming to China to participate in the National Day, they chose the site of the ancient Diaoyutai scenic spot in 1958, and instructed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to organize, plan, and build a state guesthouse, which was named as the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse.
In early 1966, Peng Zhen (then head of the five-member team of the Cultural Revolution) had organized a writing team here to draft the February Outline. During the Cultural Revolution, it became the office of the Central Cultural Revolution Group (Building 14 and 16), while Kang Sheng (Building 8), Chen Boda (Building 15), Jiang Qing (Building 5, then Building 11, then Building 10), Zhang Chunqiao, Yao Wenyuan (Building 9), and Guan Feng all lived here centrally as well, and Diaoyutai became the residence for the office and life of the members of the Central Cultural Revolution Leading Group.[4]
After the Ninth National Congress, the influence of the Central Committee's Cultural Revolution Group gradually faded out, and the political operation gradually returned to normal, and this place became the centralized residence of the members of the Gang of Four. Later Wang Hongwen lived in Building 16; Ji Dengkui, Chen Yonggui, Wu Guixian and other Politburo members who rose in the Cultural Revolution also lived here. In 1975, Chen Yonggui wrote a petition requesting to move out of the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse to an old courtyard house in Jiaodaokou. Mao Zedong said "very good, Diaoyutai has no fish to fish".[5] So the members of the Politburo of the Central Committee who lived in the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse moved out successively. Only Jiang Qing moved to Zhongnanhai after Mao's death in 1976.
Building #2, with the Diaoyutai Center Lake in the west, the Cherry Garden in the south, and adjacent to the Presidential Building #18, is equipped with 27 sets of head suites, deluxe suites, ordinary rooms and standard rooms, large and small meeting rooms, banquet halls and four-seasons halls. The building can receive all kinds of delegations and tours, organize small and medium-sized banquets, and also cooperate with the Building #18 to receive large governmental delegations.
In 1985, the negotiations between China and Britain on the Hong Kong issue took place in Building #2.[6]
Building #5 is located in the northern center of the hotel park, which is the venue for many state affairs activities. There are twenty-four suites in Building #5, including the Head Suite, Deluxe Suite, Ordinary Suite and Standard Rooms, Meeting Room, Negotiation Room, Banquet Room and Hundred People's Room. Chinese leaders often hold state affairs activities here.
In March 1970, a coup d'état in Cambodia deposed Prince Sihanouk as head of state. Despite the coup d'état, Zhou Enlai received Sihanouk with the same courtesy as a head of state. Sihanouk lived in Building 5, Zhou made elaborate arrangements for this purpose: antiques, paintings, all kinds of elegant, neat furniture. In addition, specifically for Sihanouk's wife Princess Monique selected a number of reliable service personnel.[7]
The ceremony of the then Premier Li Peng, presenting the Certificate of Appointment to the first Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Mr. Tung Chee-hwa, was held here.
Building #6 is located in the northwest corner of the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, with the Yuyuantan Stream flowing past the front of the building, and a pool of blue water faintly visible through the dense woods. The interior decoration is simple and elegant, with strong national characteristics.
On July 9, 1971, Dr. Henry Kissinger visited China secretly as a prelude to U.S. President Richard Nixon's visit to China and resided in Building #6. At about 4:00 p.m., Premier Zhou Enlai came and shook hands with Kissinger "This is the first time in 29 years that senior officials of China and the United States have shaken hands."[8]
Premier Li Keqiang attends the Inaugural Meeting of the Board of Governors of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and delivers a speech at Fanghuayuan on January 16, 2016.[9] On November 1, 2022, Premier Li Keqiang meets with Nguyen Phu Trong, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPC), who is in China for an official visit, at Diaoyutai Fanghuayuan.[10]
On May 13-15, 1992, the Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China, Xu Dunxin, Ambassador Zhang Ruijie, and Undersecretaries of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea, Roh Chang-hee (Korean: 노창희) and Kwon Byeong-hyun (Korean: 권병현), held the first round of pragmatic negotiations on the establishment of diplomatic relations in the Building #14, where the first round of negotiations ended inconclusively. To ensure the confidentiality of issues, the two sides agreed that the second round of negotiations still be held in Building #14.[11] [12]
Fangfeiyuan, also Building #17, hosts large conferences, press conferences, receptions, and banquets. The China-United States-Russia-North Korea-South Korea-Japan Six-Party Heads of State Meeting at the Beijing Six-Party Talks, hosted by China and aimed at resolving the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula, was also held at Fangfeiyuan/Building #17.
In 2022, the Russian President Vladimir Putin came to China to attend the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics, held a "New Year's meeting" here with President Xi Jinping.[13] [14] [15]
Building #18, with its faux Ming-style architecture, is located in the center of Diaoyutai, on the north side of the central lake. Most of the foreign heads of state stay in the 18th building.
On February 21, 1972, U.S. President Richard Nixon visited China and stayed in the 18th building. On February 23, Zhou Enlai and Nixon shifted the venue of their meeting to the 18th building and began to discuss the drafting of the Joint Communiqué of the United States of America and the People's Republic of China.
In September 1972, Japanese Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka visited China. In Building 18, he and Premier Zhou Enlai signed an agreement on the normalization of diplomatic relations between China and Japan, starting the first page of Sino-Japanese friendship. In October 1986, Queen Elizabeth of the United Kingdom, who was the first head of state in British history to visit China and stayed at here. The U.S. President George H.W. Bush, the former head of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev, the Emperor and his wife of Japan, and the first Russian President Boris Yeltsin who visited China also stayed in Building #18.[16]
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un stayed at the Guesthouse's No. 18 villa during his 2018 trip to China.[17]