Summer Palace

This opulent dominion of palace temples, gardens, pavilions, corridors and lakes was once a playground for the Imperial court. Royalty took refuge here from the insufferable summer heat in the Forbidden City.

The site was enlarged and embellished by Emporer Qianglong in the 18'th Century. He marshaled 100 000 labourers to deepen and expand Kunming Lake, and used to watch imperial Navy drills from one of the hills.

Anglo French troops attacked and damaged major parts of the Summer Palace and its gardens during the second Opium war (1856 - 1860). Empress Dowager Cixi commenced a refit in 1888 with money that was supposed to be used towards to creating a modern navy, but which she embezzled for her own purposes. The marble boat at the northern edge of the lake was her only nautical and unsinkable concession. (Today the marble boat is used for tea ceremonies)

In 1900 foreign troops once again attacked the Summer Palace during the Boxer rebellion and burned down some of the major buildings. A major overhaul in recent years have established it as a major tourist attraction for tourists visiting Beijing.

Empress Dowager Cixi

The Marble Boat


Hall of Listening to Orioles(Tingli Guan)

Initially built by Emporer Qianlong (1736 - 1795), for his mother to watch operas, this theater with its two storey stage was named the "Hall of listening to Orioles", because in old times people often compared listening to beautiful voices to the singing of orioles. It was burned down by the Anglo French Allied Troops in 1860 and rebuilt during the reign of Emperor Guangxu (1875 - 1908). Before the completion of the Great Stage in the Garden of Virtue and Harmony, the Empress Dowager Cixi often watched operas and held banquets here. Now the hall serves as a restaurant specializing in imperial court cuisine and is famous for having received over one hundred foreign leaders.



Imperial court cuisine is a work of art...





The sun is shining over a half frozen Kunming Lake...

Murals inside the palace walls...







The Pagoda



An elegant stretch of woodwork along the northern shore, The Long Corridor is trimmed with a plethora of paintings, while the slopes and crests of Longevity Hill are adorned with Buddhist temples...












Towards the North Palace Gate, Suzhou street is a entertaining and light-hearted diversion of riverside walkways, shops, eateries, calligraphy artists and fortune tellers designed to mimic the famous Jiangsu canal town.

It was unfortunately mostly closed and the canal was frozen when I was there in the dead of winter. I will have to return in summer to see it in all it's splendour...