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Summer Palace (Yiheyuan Park) is the largest preserved imperial park in modern China. Yiheyuan Park has a long history: Imperial family was walking on the place of the park at Liao (A.D. 907 – 1125) and Jin (A.D. 1115 - 1234) Dynasties’ time. A splendid park was laid out during the Ming (A.D. 1368 - 1644) and Qing (A.D. 1644 - 1911) Dynasties. The Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty gathered skillful and ingenious artisans from all over the country to start the construction of the Summer Palace for his mother. The garden of Clear Ripples was completed 15 years later. So it became imperial summer palace and royal garden of the Qing Dynasty. In 1860 this vast royal garden was burnt down by Anglo-French allied forces. In 1888 a widowed Empress Dowager Cixi ordered to reconstruct the park using the money meant for the national navy. Design of the park was thought over thoroughly: every structure of it matched with the artificial lake (Kumming Lake) and mountainous landscapes. She renamed the park and called it Garden of Nurtured Harmony. Summer Palace is situated 15 km to the northwest from the center of the city. It’s an outstanding example of imperial gardens in classical Chinese style. The whole Park Complex covers the area of 290 hectares including more than 3 000 constructions: halls, pavilions, towers, bridges and park of miniature make the pretty blend which you can hardly find anywhere in the world! One of the main sightseeing of the park is a 728-meter long covered gallery along the shore of the lake. It’s decorated with magnificent wall paintings and fresco. You will not find any repeated drawing. There are thousands precious cultural relics. In 1998 the Summer Palace was inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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