The Summer Palace
2 min readSituated in the Haidian District northwest of Beijing,the Summer Palace is 15 kilometers from central Beijing.Being the largest and most well-preserved royal park in China,it also has been recognized as the Museum of Royal Gardens.
The Qianlong Emperor of the Qing Dynasty(1644-1911),who Commissioned work on the imperial gardens on the hill in 1749,gave Longevity Hill its present-day name in 1752,in celebration of the 60th birthday of his mother.
Artisans reproduced the garden architecture styles of various palaces in China.Kunming Lake was created by extending an existing body of water to imitate the West Lake in Hangzhou.
The Summer Palace radiates fully the natural beauty and the grandeur of royal gardens,Composed mainly of Longevity Hill and Kunming Lake,it has over 3,000 man-made ancient structures,including pavilions,towers,bridges,corridors,etc.
The garden consists of three parts:political area,residence area,and sightseeing area.The political area centers on the Hall of Benevolence and Longevity,where Empress Dowager Cixi and Emperor Guangxu conducted state affairs,met officials and diplomatic envoys.The residence area is composed of three complexes of buildings.The Hall of Happiness in Longevity,the Hall of Jade Ripples and the Hall of Yiyun were the palaces of Empress Dowager Cixi,Emperor Guangxu and his empress respectively.The sightseeing area,which is the main area of the Summer Palace,is made up of front-hill area,rear-hill,back-lake area and Kunming Lake.
Kunming Lake is clear and beautiful.There are three islands kissing the ripples of the vast water.The main attractions are Western Bank,six bridges of Western Bank,Eastern Bank,Nanhu Island,the Seventeen-Arch Bridge and so on.The Long Corridor in the west has more than 14,000 paintings on its walls and ceilings, considered as an Art Gallery.The winding Suzhou Street at the rear- hill has a distinctive cornmercial atmosphere of Jiangsu.
