China Travel Reference

Summer Palace

Summer Palace located in the northwest outskirt of Beijing, about 10 kilometers away from the downtown. As an imperial garden it was mainly built in 1749 in Qing dynasty, but first built in Jin dynasty more than 800 year’s ago. The construction in Qing dynasty lasted for 15 years. Unfortunately, in 1860 and 1900, the Summer Palace, which had been built intermittently for centuries was burned down by invading solders. But later on it was rebuilt again. When the last dynasty collapsed, the Summer Palace,

as private property of the last emperor --- Puyi, opened to visitors. In 1949, the Summer Palace came to the hand of the People’s Republic of China, then, renovation work began. From then on the Summer Palace began to take a new look.

The Summer Palace takes an area of 290 hectares and is made up of two parts: the Longevity Hill and the Kunming Lake, but the lake takes up two thirds of the whole area. According to the function of different parts of the garden we could also divide it into three sections, namely political area, residential area and sightseeing area. The three sections arethreaded together by the famous wooden architecture ---the Long Corridor, which like a ribbon extending from east to west on the north bank about 728 meters.

Apart from the design of the corridor, another outstanding feature is the Chinese paintings. On the beams and crossbeams there are more than 7,000 Chinese paintings, therefore it is also nicknamed as art gallery. In the center of the lake there sits a beautiful small island. Between the East Bank and the island is the beautiful Marco Polo Bridge. Combining the elegance and beauty of the garden in south China and the grandness of the imperial garden, the Summer Palace has a significant place in the culture of landscape gardening in China. In 1998 the Summer Palace has been inscribed on the World Heritage List by the UNESCO.

Beihai Park
　

Beihai Park, situated to the northwest of Palace Museum, is a typical imperial garden dating back to more than 800 years ago. Buildings are clustered around the famed white pagoda on Qionghua (Jasper Flower) Island on the lake in the park’s bosom. The island provides a vantage point for observing the landscape of Beijing. Major attractions are Circular City, Painted Boat Studio, Studio of the Tranquil Heart, Nine-Dragon Screen Wall and Five-Dragon Pavilions.