The Summer Palace (Yiheyuan), located in Northwestern Beijing, is a masterpiece of Chinese landscaping that harmoniously incorporates the works of man and nature.

First built in 1750, the palace suffered severe damages during the war of 1860 and was restored on its original foundations in 1886. The Summer Palace, which served four generations of the imperial family, is now a popular resort for people from all walks of life.

 History

The Summer Palace, a world-renowned imperial garden, is situated 15 kilometers from downtown Beijing. Covering 293 hectares, the palace mainly consists of Longevity Hill and Kunming Lake, and boasts more than 3,000 various buildings. About three quarters of the garden is covered by a lake.

The Summer Palace has a history of over 800 years. Early in the Jin Dynasty (1115-1234), an imperial palace named Golden Hill Palace was built on the present site of the Summer Palace. In 1750, with 4.48 million taels of silver, Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) built the Garden of Clear Ripples, renaming it Longevity Hill to celebrate his mother's birthday.

In 1860 the site was burned down by invading allied forces from Great Britain and France. In 1888, Empress Dowager Cixi, with a fund of 30 million taels of silver embezzled from the Imperial Navy, restored the grand garden. The construction lasted 10 years. After its completion, Cixi renamed it Yiheyuan, the Garden of Peace and Harmony. In 1900, the Allied Eight Powers again attacked the site, this time destroying all of big temples and halls at the back of the Longevity Hill, with only one remaining. When Cixi returned to Beijing in 1903, the full-scale restoration again took place. The site was rebuilt in time for the empress to enjoy a few more summers and was finally opened to the public in 1923.

To avoid the intense heat of Beijing summers, the Qing imperial family left the Forbidden City to stay at the Summer Palace. Three-fourths of the palace is covered by Kunming Lake, whose shape and size have been altered many times by successive landscape architects. The lake is central to the overall design of the park.

 Layout

The East Palace Gate is the main entrance to the Summer Palace. It has three openings: one in the center exclusively for the emperor and empress and two side openings for princes and court officials.

The garden is divided into three parts: administration, residences and landscape areas. The administration area, with the Hall of Benevolence and Longevity (Renshoudian) as its principal structure, is the place where Cixi dealt with state affairs and received officials. The residence area is composed of three large courtyards focusing respectively on the Hall of Jade Ripples (Yulantang), Hall of Happiness and Longevity (Leshoutang), Garden of Virtue and Harmony and the Yiyun Hall. The landscape sector, the major part of the garden, consists of Longevity Hill, Kunming Lake and a great variety of wooden, stone, glazed and brass structures.

1. Administration Sector

The administration area, with the Hall of Benevolence and Longevity as its principal quarters, is the place where Empress Dowager Cixi dealt with state affairs and received officials.

From the East Palace Gate of the garden to the right is the magnificent Hall of Benevolence and Longevity, originally named the Hall of Industrious Government (Qinzhengdian). It is the main hall at the Summer Palace, first built in 1750 and later burned down by invading Anglo-French allied forces in 1860. In 1890, the hall was rebuilt and renamed the Hall of Benevolent Longevity. In front of the hall are bronze animals, cauldrons, dragons and phoenixes, dignified and stately, adding more solemnity to the hall. Among them, the legendary animal, Kylin -- with a body covered with fish scales, a dragon's head, lion's tail, deer's antlers and ox's hooves -- is most attractive. In the hall, the first thing to catch one's attention is a red sandalwood throne carved with nine dragons that symbolizes supreme power. Behind the throne is a red sandalwood screen where 226 Chinese characters for "longevity" are written to symbolize happiness and longevity.

2. Residence Sector

Behind the Hall of Benevolence and Longevity are three large-scale quadrangles: the Hall of Happiness and Longevity, Hall of Jade Ripples and Yiyun Hall, the former residence of Cixi, Emperor Guangxu and his wives respectively. To the East is the Garden of Virtue and Harmony, which, covering an area of 3,000 square meters, mainly consists of the Grand Theater and the Hall of Nurtured Joy.

Hall of Happiness and Longevity: The Hall of Happiness and Longevity was Empress Dowager Cixi's residence. Many of the treasures used by Empress Dowager are on display there.

Hall of Jade Ripples: To the east of the Hall of Benevolence and Longevity and south of the Hall of Happiness and Longevity lies a group of structures called the Hall of Jade Ripples. Burned down in 1860 and rebuilt in 1892, the hall, which was the original bedchamber of Emperor Guangxu, served as his prison cell for 10 years. Afraid that her son was plotting against her, Empress Dowager Cixi started a coup in 1898 and put Emperor Guanxu under house arrest. Two rocks resembling the figures of a mother and a son were erected in front of the hall on Cixi's orders. The rocks were intended to symbolize the natural affection between mother and child, seemingly criticizing Guangxu's disobedience and ruthlessness.

The Grand Theater: The Garden of Virtuous Harmony is the best-preserved ancient theater in China. Empress Dowager Cixi was a great lover of traditional Chinese plays. Another of her favorite pastimes was fishing. The Garden of Harmonious Interests served this purpose.

3. Landscape Sector

Consisting of Kunming Lake and Longevity Hill (Front and Rear Hills), the landscape sector is an essential part of the Summer Palace.

Longevity Hill, located on the northern banks of Kunming Lake, is divided into two parts -- the Front Hill and Rear Hill. The building complex in the Front Hill begins at the Gate of Dispelling Clouds, followed by the Hall of Dispelling Clouds, Hall of Moral Brilliance and Tower of Buddhist Incense respectively; it ends in the Sea-of-Wisdom Temple on the mountaintop, forming an axis across the entire garden. At the foot of the hill is the Long Corridor, renowned as "the First Corridor in the World." Beside the gallery lies Kunming Lake.

The Rear Hill, which differs from the Front Hill, is quiet and elegant. A path circles down the hill with trees and brooks scattering here and there. Main structures on the Rear Hill include Suzhou Street and the Garden of Harmonious Interests.

Hall of Dispelling Clouds: The hall is located on Longevity Hill, as well as on the central axis of the Summer Palace. Empress Dowager Cixi celebrated her 60th and 70th birthdays at the Hall of Dispelling Clouds. A bronze dragon and phoenix are located outside the hall to symbolize supreme power, and a pair of bronze lions and 12 Taihu rocks stand in front of the Gate of Dispelling Clouds. The 12 rocks imply the 12 zodiac animals and assume strange shapes respectively: a rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog and pig. Together with the lions, the auspicious animals ward off evil spirits and protect the imperial buildings.

Tower of Buddhist Incense: Outside the Hall of Dispelling Clouds and halfway up Longevity Hill is the Tower of Buddhist Incense. The eight-facade, three-storied tower is the symbol of the royal garden and the highest building inside. Situated on the palace's central axis, the 21-meter-high tower was built on a 20-meter-high stone planet with eight huge pillars as its backbone. Positioned high atop Longevity Hill, it was once a place for emperors and empresses to pray. Empress Dowager Cixi always held prayer ceremonies there on the first and 15th day of each lunar month. The large group of temples on Longevity Hill, including the Tower of Buddhist Incense, is typical of the architecture of Tibetan Buddhism -- a religion the Qing monarchs held in very high esteem.

Sea-of-Wisdom Temple: Behind the Tower of Buddhist Incense is the Sea of Wisdom, and on top of Longevity Hill is a religious building that suggests Buddha's wisdom is as wide as the sea. The hall was also called "no-beam hall," which was built using only bricks and not a single beam or column. The outer walls were completely covered in about 1,000 small, glazed Buddhist sculptures, most of which have been burned down during invasions of the Anglo-French Allied Forces and Allied Forces of the Eight Powers.

Seventeen-Arch Bridge: The Seventeen-Arch Bridge, 150 meters long and eight meters wide, is ranked as the biggest bridge at the Summer Palace. With 544 white marble lions on the balustrades, it is reputed as the bridge with the most stone lions in China. The structure spans across Kunming Lake with 17 bridge openings beneath -- hence its name, Seventeen-Arch Bridge.

Bronze Ox: Located to the east of the Seventeen-Arch Bridge, the bronze ox was cast in 1755. It is said that in ancient times the ox was used to suppress floods. Cast with upturned horns and ears, the bronze ox looks vigilantly at Kunming Lake like a conscientious sentinel.

Long Gallery: The longest and most famous gallery in world, the Long Gallery stretches over 728 meters along the northern shore of Kunming Lake and connects to a row of buildings at the foot of Longevity Hill. Four octagonal pavilions with double roofs were built at regular intervals to represent the four seasons. The gallery has about 14,000 colorful paintings depicting landscapes, human figures, battle scenes, flowers, birds, etc. The landscape and flower-and-bird paintings mainly center on the scenery of the West Lake, while the figure paintings are mostly derived from Chinese legends and classic novels.

Marble Boat: The Long Gallery leads to the Marble Boat, a symbol of stability during the rule of the Qing Dynasty. The Marble Boat, about 36 meters in length, is located northwest of Kunming Lake. The boat was first built in 1750, but, in 1860, Allied Anglo-French Forces burnt down the top of the Chinese-style wooden superstructure. In 1893, it was rebuilt in a French-style with two wheelers. It was painted white to resemble a marble boat, which is where its name comes from. The boat has four dragonheads that empty rainwater from their mouths into Kunming Lake.

The Garden of Harmonious Interests: The Garden of Harmonious Interests (Xiequyuan) is also known as the "garden within a garden." Located on the eastern part of Rear Hill, the garden was built to imitate Jichangyuan Garden in Wuxi in 1750. It was originally named Huishan Garden and was renamed in 1881 after a large-scale restoration. The main "interests" of the garden include a distinctive seasonal scenery -- weeping willows, blossoming lotuses, a pavilion reflection and silver snow for spring, summer, autumn and winter respectively; gurgling streams like a melodious violin; diverse bridges; a wealth of calligraphy; hundreds of paintings; zigzagging corridors that connect pavilions, bridges, halls and the pond.

Suzhou Street: Running 300 meters along the banks of Rear Lake with an area of 3,000 square meters, this street used to be nicknamed Fair Street during Emperor Qianlong's reign. It was once a commercial street for the emperor, empress and concubines for shopping. All service staff members are wearing Qing costumes and all tablets are also modeled after the ancient styles to create a historic atmosphere. The street is lined on both sides with archaized structures, such as various shops, teahouses and restaurants that reflect China's commercial culture of the 18th century.

The Summer Palace is an outstanding example of imperial, as well as private gardens, with features of both northern and southern China. It is the best-preserved and largest of all Chinese imperial gardens. The palace integrates the natural landscape of hills and open water with man-made features, such as pavilions, halls, palaces, temples and bridges, into a harmonious and aesthetically exceptional whole.