Summer Palace

Complete with a collection of lakes, gardens and palaces, Summer Palace is China's largest and best preserved royal park.

The spectacular park was built back in 1750 as an extravagant retreat for the royal families, actually using the construction of a previous lake to create two more. The palace, like most of China and Beijing, was damaged greatly during the wars against the English and the French. Over the years, many people from the Qing dynasty and government officials of the 20th century have stayed in the Summer Palace. The Longevity Hill is the centre of the palace, and many buildings are placed along the height of it. The Front Hill area has the most magnificent places and attractions, such as the Long Corridor, a 730 metre long corridor decorated wonderfully, Hall of Jade Billows, Eastern Palace Gate which is the main entrance to the Summer Palace. The Back Hill area had a shopping street, the 'Four Great Regions', the Garden of Harmonius Pleasures, the Flower Pavilion and Glass Tower and many others, although most of these were severely damaged in wars against Britain and France and restored only recently. The Court Area was used by the emperor to conduct business of the state even during his times outside the Palace. Other areas of interest in the Summer Palace are the Eastern and the Western Dams. The Palace was opened to the public for the first time back in 1924, and after several renovations since the 1950s, today serves as one of Beijing's most stunning and top attractions.