Travel in China!

Located in Beijing’s northwest, was built in Kangxi 48 (1709), was built during the heyday of the Qing Dynasty emperors Royal Park, Yuanming, Changchun, Yi-chun of the three parks, covering 350 hectares. It is China’s architecture, landscape art masterpieces, as the “000 Park Garden.”

Address: Qinghua West Road, Haidian District, on the 28th

Transportation: 331,333,365,375 branch, 801,810 Summer Palace, Yuan Ming Yuan green alight.

Tel: 62543673

Tickets: 10 yuan, 20 yuan passes

All:

The Old Summer Palace which is also known as the Ruins of the Yuanmingyuan (the Garden of Perfection and Light) is located northwest of Beijing and to the east of the (present-day) Summer Palace. The Garden was first constructed in the year of 1709 during the reign of the Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). Over the next 150 years of the Qing Dynasty, this Garden was expanded to be a large-scale Chinese emperors’ private pleasure garden, covering a total area of 350 hectares (over 864 acres).

Generally speaking, the Old Summer Palace consists of three parts – Yuanmingyuan, Wanchunyuan (the Garden of Blossoming Spring) and Changchunyuan (the Garden of Eternal Spring). These three gardens are often referred to as one common name: Yuanmingyuan. Hundreds of scenic spots in the Garden are made up of exquisitely constructed halls, pavilions, chambers, kiosks, earth and rock hills, rivers and ponds, and exotic flowers and grasses from different parts of the country. Indeed, it embodies the essence of Chinese ancient landscape gardening.

To be distinct from other traditional Chinese Gardens, the garden construction and horticulture of Yuanmingyuan is a harmonious blend of typical Chinese scenery and western architecture. The more famous scenic spots include, for example, the Grand Waterworks, the Throne for viewing the Waterworks and the Labyrinth. No wonder Yuanmingyuan was also called the ‘garden of gardens’ or the ‘Versailles of the East’ in Europe during that era. Furthermore, Yuanmingyuan was also an imperial museum that collected a large number of books, treasures and cultural artifacts. However, a large number of these collections were plundered by the Anglo-French Allied Forces in 1860, at the same time as the Garden was burnt down. Now, most of these historical curiosities are displayed in the other countries’ museums, including the British Museum; Bibliotheque Nationale de France; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, USA; Oslo Museum of Applied Art and so on.

The vast majority of the remaining scenic spots were destroyed in the 1980’s, but under the due protection of the ruins of Yuanmingyuan, a park has been established on the ruin site. So visitors can imagine the former grandeur of the Old Summer Palace from the crumbling walls and ruins. What’s more, there is also an opportunity for visitors to view the complete picture of Yuanmingyuan in its ‘heyday’ in the exhibition hall. The reconstruction of some of the original structures and scenic spots provides people with a lovely place to relax.

Beijing’s northern suburbs in the West, used to the Qing Dynasty royal palace and gardens. Longevity Hill and the Park mainly by the composition of Kunming Lake, an area of 290.8 hectares, of which about three-quarters of the surface. Huguangshanse the Summer Palace with its beautiful, elegant garden art, fine historical heritage, to become the world-famous imperial gardens.

Address: Haidian District, the new road on the 19th Gongmen

Transportation: 330,332,333,346,362,349,801,808,817, American Express 106, get off at the Summer Palace Road special 6, 301,303, with 333,346,362, with 375,375, 384, Northbound Gongmen 394,904,801,808 get off, with 374,374, 905 new road Gongmen alight.

Tel: 62881144 Tickets: 8 yuan, 33 yuan passes

All：

Situated in western outskirts of Beijing, the Summer Palace is 10 kilometers from the central city. It is China’s leading classical garden which enjoys a worldwide reputation. The Summer Palace was opened to the public in 1924 and included in the UNESCO world heritage list in 1998. A whole day is needed to view it in detail.The Summer Palace was first built in 1153 and served as an imperial palace for short stays away from the capital. Empress Dowager Ci Xi rebuilt it in 1888 with a large sum of money which had been appropriated to build a Chinese navy.

The two main elements of the garden are Longevity Hill and Kunming Lake. Kunming Lake, with an exquisite building in the middle, takes up three quarters of the garden’s 290 hectares. The garden consists of three parts: the political activity area, the empress’s living quarter and the scenic area which separately centers on the Hall of Benevolence and Longevity(1), the Hall of Jade Ripples(2) and the Hall of Happiness and Longevity(3), and Longevity Hill(4) and Kunming Lake. The groups of buildings, hills and lakes, together with the background of West Hills, give an ever changing scene.

The buildings on the southern slope of Longevity Hill are characteristic of the garden. Cloud-Dispelling Hall, the Pavilion of the Buddhist Incense(5) and the Wisdom Sea(6) on the axis line are flanked by the Wheel Hall, Wufang Pavilion and Baoyun Pavilion and are major attractions. The Pavilion of the Buddhist Incense is 41 meters high and stands on a 20-meter-high terrace. At the foot of Longevity Hill is the 728-meter-long passageway which links the three areas together. The passageway is famous for its paintings and at its western end is a 36-meter-long Marble Boat(7).

The bridges of the western causeway of Kunming Lake are replicas of the bridges of famous Su and Bai causeways on West Lake in Hangzhou. The marble Seventeen-Arch Bridge which spans the Eastern Causeway to South Lake Island has balusters topped by 540 carved lions in different poses.

Back Lake at the northern foot of Longevity Hill is natural and peaceful. On its bank is Suzhou Street, a replica of a commercial street in the old days. At the northeastern corner of the garden there is the Garden of Harmonious Interest which imitates the famous Jichang Garden(8) in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province. Diminutive and elegant, it is known as a garden within a garden.