Long been regarded as a summer retreat for the imperial court, the Summer Palace is located in the northwest area of Beijing an composed mainly of Wanshoushan (Longevity Hill) and Kunming Lake. It occupies an area of 290.8 hectares, of which about 220 hectares is water. Centering on Foxiangge (the Pavilion of Buddhist Incense), the Summer Palace consist of over 3,000 structures including pavilions, towers, bridges, and corridors. Guided by nature, artists designed the gardens exquisitely so visitors would see marvelous views and be amazed by perfect examples of refined craftwork using the finest materials.

Originally built in 1750 as an imperial garden by Emperor Qianlong to celebrate his mother’s birthday, it was called Qingyiyuan (the Park of Pure Ripples) at that time.

Later the park was destroyed and plundered by Anglo-French troops during the Second Opium War in 1860. In 1888 the notorious Empress Dowager Cixi decided to rebuild this opulent summer retreat for herself with the money kept for a modern navy. The reconstruction lasted for ten years and after completion, she renamed it Yiheyuan (Garden of Peace and Harmony). In 1900 the Summer Palace was damaged extensively once again during the Boxer Rebellion, but was rebuilt shortly after.
The garden can be divided into three parts, administration, residence and scenery browsing area. The administration area, taking Renshoudian (Hall of Benevolence and Longevity) as its principal part, is the place where Empress Dowager Cixi dealt with state affairs and received officials. Residence area mainly consists of Yulantang (Hall of Jade Billows), Deheyuan(Garden of Virtue and Harmony), and Leshoutang (Kunming Lake) and Wanshoushan (Longevity Hill) serve as the scenery browsing area.
All the man-made hills, halls, pavilions and temples, including Kunming Lake and Longevity Hill, blend together harmoniously in sprite of their individual styles. Ingeniously conceived and elaborately designed, this garden, concentrating the features of the gardens in both southern and northern China, can be regarded as the soul of Chinese gardens.

The archway is the symbol of the entrance. About 200 meters from the superb East Palace Gate is a lion-guarded inscribed archway. The obverse inscription, “Hanxu”, indicates the lake water, while the rear “Yanxiu” means the hill beauty. The East Palace Gate is the major entrance to the Summer Palace. Above the gate, the three Chinese characters of the name of the Summer Palace “Yiheyuan” have been inscribed in Emperor Guangxu’s hand.

Renshoudian (Hall of Benevolence and Longevity)

Originally named Qinzhengdian (Palace of Encouraging Good Government) to inspire the emperor to manage state affairs diligently, the Hall of Benevolence and Longevity is the most important hall in this area. It was the place where Emperor Guangxu and Empress Dowager Cixi received high officials and handle state affairs.
During Empress Dowager Cixi’s second reign after 1888, the political center gradually moved from the Forbidden City to the Summer Palace, and the Hall of Benevolence and Longevity became actually the imperial audience hall. Today, the furnishings in the hall remain as they were in the past. Like the Hall of Supreme Harmony in the Forbidden City, this hall houses a red sandalwood throne carved with nine dragons—the symbol of supreme power. Behind the throne is a red sandalwood screen with dragon carvings on the top, and the middle part of which is a glass mirror engraved with 226 Chinese characters of “shou” symbolizing longevity in different ways, which was believed to be written by Empress Dowager Cixi. Standing in front of the hall are two pairs of bronze statues of dragons and phoenixes used an incense burners.

Outside in the courtyard there has an exquisitely sculpted bronze beast— Kylin, a legendary animal with dragon head, lion tail, deer horn and cattle hoof, which was said to appear on earth at times of harmony only. Contrary to tradition, the phoenix statues rather than dragon ones were put in the middle of the courtyard, hinting to the rest of the world that the empress is the real ruler. In China, dragon represents the king and phoenix refers to the queen.

Yulantang (Hall of Jade Billows)

Lying east to Renshoudian, Yulantang (Hall of Jade Billows) once served as a living court for Emperor Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty during his stay in the Summer Palace, but later became a prison for the poor emperor. After the failure of the Reform Movement in 1898, Emperor Guangxu was put under house arrest in Yingtai (Water Terrace Pavilion) in Zhongnanhai (the Central and South Lakes) near the Forbidden City by Empress Dowager Cixi before he was confined here. To keep him in close watch, several brick walls were put up and all the back doors were scaled. The poor emperor was isolated by the walls, the only outside view he could enjoy was the weeping willow trees in Zhichungting (the Perceiving the Spring Pavilion). On November 14th, he died dejectedly just one day before Empress Dowager Cixi’s death after ten years confinement.

Leshoutang (Hall of Joyful Longevity)

Lying in the northeast of the Summer Palace near Kunming Lake, the Hall of Joyful Longevity was originally a residence built by Emperor Qianlong for his mother. Later it became the residence of Empress Dowager Cixi during her summer stay. After being burnt down in 1860 by the Anglo-French Allied Forces, the hall was reconstructed in1889, where Cixi spent almost all her remaining years.
Richly ornamented, the hall is divided into four sections, where many items used by the empress dowager were on display. The east inner room was her dressing room while the east outer room was the place where she had her breakfast and tea. The west inner room served as her bedroom and west outer room was the place where she handled state affairs and signed documents.
In the center of the hall is a large table where Empress Dowager Cixi used to have her meals. Regardless of the then weak national strength, Empress Dowager Cixi is a person who is after fame and extravagance. Take her meal for example, about 128 courses, over 50 kinds of staple food and 30 kinds of porridge were served every day, while about 128 eunuchs, cooks and tea servants were always at her service. It is said that money spent on a single meal amounted to that of a day’s food for 5,000 people.

Deheyuan (Garden of Virtuous Harmony)

To the north of the Hall of Benevolence and Longevity is Deheyuan (Garden of Virtuous Harmony), where Empress Dowager Cixi watched the performance of Peking Opera. It mainly consists of Daxilou (the Grand Theater), Yiledian (the Hall of Nurtured Joy), and Banxilou (the Dressing House).
With a height of 21 meters, the three-storey Grand Theater was the biggest of the three main theaters in operation during the Qing Dynasty, the other two being the Qingyin Pavilion in the Mountain Resort of Chengde and the Changyin Pavilion in the Forbidden City. It consists from top to bottom of three Stages—the Fu (Happiness), the Lu (affluence) and the Shou (Longevity) stages, where special arrangements were made to add the stage effects.
Directly facing the Grand Theater building is the Hall of Nurtured Joy, which was exclusively used by Empress Dowager Cixi. She enjoyed Peking Opera so much that she spent most of her time here on watching performance. Her luxurious seat, carved with a hundred larks flying toward a phoenix, and a florid jade inlaid screen with flower and bird motifs are on display.

The Dressing House was the place where the actors put on their costumes and make up. Today, Cixi’s vintage Benz and the costumes from those days are exhibited here.

Changlang (Long Gallery).

The Long Gallery actually is a covered walkway, which starts from Yaoyuemen (Greeting the Moon Gate) in the east and ends near Shifang (the Marble Boat) in the west, with Paiyuandian (the Gate of Dispelling Clouds) standing in between. With a length of 728 meters, it is the longest gallery in Chinese garden architecture
The Long Gallery winds its way along the north shore of Kunming Lake like a colorful ribbon linking the architectures and the natural landscape. 273 rooms with various paintings attract into a fantastic land. Among them are four octagonal pavilions on the joint, symbolizing the four seasons of a year. Looking far beyond, hills undulating in deep green, and the exquisite pagoda and floating boats enhancing each other’s beauty, which make you have a feeling of being in a fairy land!

The Long Gallery is a gallery in true meaning. Painted on the beams and crossbeams are over 14,000 different pictures derived from Hangzhou’s West Lake landscapes, ancient Chinese folk legends, classic novels and plays and dramas. Appreciating the intricate paintings while listening to the profound stories, myths and legends, visitors can learn a lot about the five-thousand-year-old Chinese culture.

Paiyundian (Hall of Dispelling Clouds)

The Hall of Dispelling Clouds is situated on the central axis of the Summer Palace and is the heart of a succession of buildings used for celebrations, Its name derives from a verse by the poet Guo Pu in the Jin Dynasty: “The immortals emerge from between parting clouds; a terrace of silver and gold appears.” Built on the former site of a temple named Dabaoensi, it was the place where Empress Dowager Cixi used to receive her birthday greetings and gifts from the courtier. Most of the things display here are the gifts given on her 70th birthday. Among them, a portrait of Cixi painted by an American artist Katherine A. Carl is the most prominent one.

Foxiangge (The Tower of Buddhist Incense)

The Tower of Buddhist Incense stands atop the Longevity Hill on the central axis of the royal garden, north to the Hall of Dispelling Clouds. Set up on the 21-meter-high base steps of the front slope of Longevity Hill and towering to a height of 41 meters, it can be seen throughout the area and is the symbol of the Summer Palace.
Facing Kunming Lake southward and backing on Zhihuihai (the Hall of the Sea of Wisdom), the tower was flanked by symmetrical buildings. With eight porticoes, three levels and four layered eaves, the front part of the tower imitates the Yellow Crane Tower in Hubei Province, which is the elite tower among treasured ancient structures.
Inside the tower is a 5-meter-high gilded statue of the thousand-handed Kwan-yin (Bodhisattva), glowing with sacred beauty. On the first and fifteenth day of every lunar month, the Empress Dowager Cixi would come here to pray and burn joss sticks.
Above the covered corridor behind the Tower of Buddhist Incense is a colorful glazed archway named Zhongxiangjie (Field of Incenses). Behind Zhongxiangjie is Zhihuihai (the Hall of the Sea of Wisdom). Built on the pinnacle of Longevity Hill, it is designed to stand at the top end of an axis stretching from the Kunming Lake to the summit. When initially built during the reign of Emperor Qianlong (1711-1799), the tower, dubbed “No Beam Hall” was a two-storied building made entirely of colored glaze bricks. Owing to its timber-free frame, it survived the fire set by the Anglo-French allied forces in 1860. However, the holy statue of Amitayus Buddha, as well as 1,008 smaller engraved Buddha surrounding it, were destroyed.

Zhuanglunzang (Revolving Archive)

Located east to the Tower of Buddhist Incense, Zhuanglunzang (Revolving Archive) is a building complex where emperors and empresses kept copies of Buddhist scriptures and Buddha portraits, and also the place where they chanted scriptures and prayed.
It consists of one main building and another two side pavilions connected with each other by a corridor. In front of Zhuanglunzang stands a large stone tablet bearing the inscription “Longevity Hill, Kunming Lake”, which is about 10 meters high, and in Emperor Qianlong’s handwriting.
In each side pavilion, there is an octagonal wooden tower on which the Buddhist scriptures were placed. The tower revolves around a central axis controlled by a mechanism below. When emperors and empresses came to chant scriptures and pray, then just turned the tower, which symbolized that scriptures were read once, so it got the name “Revolving Archive”.

Wufangge & Baoyunge

(Pentagonal Pavilion & Pavilion of Precious Clouds)
Lying east to the Tower of Buddhist Incense, these two pavilions are also used as imperial family halls to worship Buddha. Baoyunge, a pure-bronze-made pavilion, built on a marble terrace is the dominant feature here. With 7.75 meters in height and 207 tons in weight, Baoyunge was cast in 1775 with the traditional