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Beijing Sightseeing: Summer Palace | |||||
| The Summer Palace is located about 15km from Beijing. Its Chinese name, Yiheyuan, translates as the Garden of Nurtured Harmony. Unlike the Forbidden City, which was designed to impress visitors, this one was built more as an imperial playground. The palace complex is built around a small lake. Atop a hill on the northern end is a temple called the Tower of Fragrance of Buddha. |
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| We entered via the East Gate. Near the entrance is the Hall of Benevolent Longevity, where official functions could be held. Among the other buildings, there was a grand theater for performances of the Beijing Opera. Walking west we saw the start of this covered walkway (left). Simply called Long Corridor, it meanders around the northern portion of the lake for 728 meters, making it the longest one in China. Although it was a very hot day, the corridor worked like a natural air conditioning, providing a nice and cool path. The inside of the walkway is decorated with scenes from classical Chinese stories. | ||||
You have probably heard of rock garden. You may have even seen Asian exhibits of "found" rock art, i.e., typically small rocks found in nature that are appreciated for their unusual shape or color. But you have never seen a Home-Wrecking Rock. The story goes that this particular rock was found by a rich nobleman. who then spent his way into the poorhouse trying to bring this specimen into his garden. Unfortunately, he ran out of money and had to leave the rock on the side of the road. The emperor, fortunately, had more resources and was able to bring the rock to his garden. |
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| The arch-like structure seen above the roof of the building was used to hang an electric light around the times of Empress Cixi. The light served as a beacon for boats coming from the Forbidden Palace. | |||||
 | English and French troops destroyed the Summer Palace on two different occasions but it was always rebuilt. The present incarnation is pretty much the way it looked during the time of Empress Cixi (Tzu Hsi), whose unbridled ambition and iron grip on the government was a a major reason for China's inability to modernize and halt Western imperialist advances. This famed and beautiful marble boat was built by Empress Cixi using funds that had been earmarked for China's navy. Note how it resembles a Mississippi riverboat with its paddlewheel near the back. | ||||
| For a small fee, we boarded this dragon-headed boat (right) for a short trip to a small island in the middle of the lake. The only building on the island is called the Dragon King's Temple. The island is connected to the mainland via a beautiful seventeen-arch bridge (below). Note the stone lions decorating the bridge. There are 544 of them. | |||||
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