The Summer Palace

The Summer Palace in Beijing – first built in 1750, largely destroyed in the war of 1860 and restored on its original foundations in 1886 – is a masterpiece of Chinese landscape garden design. The natural landscape of hills and open water is combined with artificial features such as pavilions, halls, palaces, temples and bridges to form a harmonious ensemble of outstanding aesthetic value.

Located in the suburb of Beijing, The Summer Palace was formerly an imperial garden and palace for the Qing emperors. It is one of the four famous gardens in China. It is a big place and now divided into three sections, political, living and sightseeing. The Old Summer Palace and the Summer Palace are both historical sites to all Chinese. The palaces remind all Chinese about Opium War and the fact that the foreign powers, including Britain, America, Japan, German and France, once burned down and rubbed the palaces at the turn into 20th century.

The Summer Palace is an outstanding example of Chinese imperial garden, and a potent symbol of one of the major world civilizations. In December 1998, the World Heritage Committee of UNESCO approved to inscribe Beijing's Summer Palace on the World Heritage List.

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