Tourist Attractions

Summer Palace

The Summer Palace, originally named Qingyi Yuan or the Garden of Clear Ripples, was an imperial palace first constructed in the 12th century. It is located on the western edge of Beijing, between the fourth and fifth ring roads, close to the western hills, 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) from central Beijing. Renovation and extension in the following several hundred years till the end of the 19th century led it into the scale we see today, and was officially named Summer Palace. Ingeniously conceived and elaborately designed, it features the garden styles of both northern and southern China thus is justifiably known as the 'garden of gardens'.

Dominated mainly by Longevity Hill and Kunming Lake, the Summer Palace covers an area of 304 hectares (751 acres). Its 70,000 square meters (17.3 acres) of building space features a variety of palaces, gardens and other ancient-style architectural structures. The halls, pavilions, bridges and temples, Kunming Lake and Longevity Hill, all blend together harmoniously in spite of their individual styles.

The buildings on the southern slope of Longevity Hill are characteristic of the garden. Cloud-Dispelling Hall, the Pavilion of the Buddhist Incense and the Wisdom Sea 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 (134 feet) high and stands on a 20-meter-high (65.6-feet-high) terrace. At the foot of Longevity Hill is the 728-meter-long (796-yard-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 (39.4-yard-long) Marble Boat.  

The Kunming Lake makes up four-fifths of this royal park. 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 in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province. Diminutive and elegant, it is known as a garden within a garden.

The Summer Palace is a monument to classical Chinese architecture, in terms of both garden design and construction. Borrowing scenes from surrounding landscapes, it radiates not only the grandeur of an imperial garden but also the beauty of nature in a seamless combination that best illustrates the guiding principle of traditional Chinese garden design: 'The works of men should match the works of Heaven'. In December 1998, UNESCO included the Summer Palace on its World Heritage List.

More Top Visitor Attractions in Beijing:
Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven,
Tiananmen Square, Ming Tombs, Old Beijing Hutongs

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