The
Summer Palace is located
in the seashore district
of the northwest suburb
of Beijing. It covers
an area of 290 hectares,
three fourths of which
are water area. There
are over 3000 various
hall and garden constructions
in the park, and it
is a large-scale classical
garden enjoying the
fame both here and
abroad, which is also
called “Museum Park”.
It had been one of
the gardens and temporary
dwelling places of
the empress of Qing
Dynasty. It was largely
destroyed in the war
of 1860 by the combined
armies of English
and French and restored
on its original foundations
with the 30 million
silvers of the navy
funds embezzled by
Empress Cixi. Since
then, it was confirmed
of its name – the
Summer Palace, and
the most quoteworthy
sight is the Marble
Boat (Qingyan Boat).
In those years, Empress
Cixi built this marble
ship via the navy
funds, and had wished
she would have an
eternal country; however,
at present, the Marble
Boat is still over
there, while the Qing's
power was just left
there.
The Summer Palace
can be divided into
three sections, administration,
residence and scenery
browsing areas. The
administration and
residence areas are
in the north of the
garden. The Halls
of Benevolence and
Longevity as the principal
part of the administration
area, is the place
where Empress Cixi
and Emperor Guangxu
dealt with state affairs
and received officials.
The Kunming Lake and
Long cordial make
up of the scenery
browsing area, which
is the principal part
of the Summer Palace,
addressing the 41-meter-high
Foxiang (Buddha Fragrance)
Pavilion on the Longevity
Hill as its center.
And the Kunming Lake
is a huge man-made
lake, in which the
biggest island is
the Nanhu (South Lake)
Island connected with
the east bank via
a Seventeen-Hole Bridge.
It is also a bridge
holding the greatest
number of stone lions
of our motherland,
holding totally 544
stone lions in different
sizes. There is also
a Yudai (Jade Belt)
Bridge above the lake,
just as the moon rises
from the water when
viewed in broad visual
angle.
On the north bank
of Kunming Lake and
south side of Longevity
Hill, is the longest
long-corridor on earth.
Its full length is
728 meters and totally
holds 273 rooms; meanwhile,
it is the longest
gallery with the most
pictures. There are
totally over 14,000
colored drawings on
the girders, which
are living and lifelike
and with no identical
ones.
The Summer Palace,
collecting the features
of the landscapes
of the world, assembling
the art prime of the
gardens in north and
south of China, can
be called a gem in
the construction art
of Chinese gardens.
