Imperial Palace Ruins

Further along the road you can find what’s left of the Qing Dynasty temporary palace，mainly utilized by the Qing Dynasty emperors Kangxi and Qianlong during eras of prosperity.These emperors played a key role in selecting the famous views of West Lake and publicizing them via poetry，and it’s not difficult to imagine them taking a break at the palace to conjure up a few lines.

Indeed，visitors to the imperial palace and its attached gardens（renamed Zhongshan Park in 1927）will need to use their imaginations to picture what the palace was like in its heyday，as the centuries have not been kind.The Taiping occupation in the 1850s and 1860 in particular caused widespread destruction.Remnants of the palace can be seen encased in glass boxes，but if visitors walk up the stone stairs near the south entrance to upper platforms and follow the plaques，they can imagine how the palace buildings must have looked，ensconced among foliage as flowers and leafs fell upon their roofs.The buildings，halls and bedrooms may have gone，but the secluded atmosphere still lingers.

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