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The Summer Palace was first built in 1153 and served as an imperial
palace for short stays away from the capital. It was rebuilt in
1888 by the Empress Dowager Ci Xi who spent an enormous amount of
money on it from funds that had been appropriated to build a Chinese
navy.
The two main elements of the garden are Longevity Hill and Kunming
Lake. Kunming Lake takes up three quarters of the garden's 290 hectares
and there is an exquisite building in the middle of it. The garden
is divided into three parts: a political activity area with the
Hall of Benevolence and Longevity as its center; the living quarters
of the empress with the hall of Jade Ripples and the Hall of Happiness
and Longevity at the center, and a scenic area featuring Longevity
Hill and the 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 Fragrance
of Buddha 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 Fragrance of Buddha 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.
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, each
in a different pose.
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 Ganden 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 was opened to the public in 1924 and it takes
one day to view it in detail. Public buses go to the outskirts or
a special sightseeing coach can take you there.
Included in the UNESCO world heritage list in 1998.
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