The Summer Palace, a royal garden of the Qing Dynasty in China, was formerly known as the Qingyi Garden. It is located in the western suburbs of Beijing, 15 kilometers away from the city. The entire garden covers an area of 3.009 square kilometers (of which the World Cultural Heritage area of the Summer Palace covers an area of 2.97 square kilometers), and water accounts for about three-quarters. It is adjacent to the Old Summer Palace. It is a large landscape garden built on the site of Kunming Lake and Wanshou Mountain, modeled on the West Lake in Hangzhou, and drawing on the design techniques of Jiangnan gardens. It is also the most well-preserved royal palace and imperial garden, and is known as the “Royal Garden Museum”.
During its heyday, the Summer Palace was large in scale, covering an area of 2.97 square kilometers, mainly composed of Longevity Hill and Kunming Lake, of which three-quarters (about 220 hectares) were covered by water. The buildings in the park are centered on the Tower of Buddhist Incense. There are more than 100 scenic buildings, more than 20 courtyards of various sizes, 3,555 ancient buildings, covering an area of more than 70,000 square meters, and more than 3,000 buildings of different forms such as pavilions, platforms, towers, pavilions, corridors, and terraces. Among them, the Tower of Buddhist Incense, the Long Corridor, the Marble Boat, Suzhou Street, the Seventeen-Arch Bridge, the Garden of Harmonious Interests, and the Grand Theater are representative buildings. There are more than 1,600 ancient and famous trees.
History of the Summer Palace
1750 ( the 15th year of Emperor Qianlong’s reign ): Emperor Qianlong used 4.48 million taels of silver to rebuild the Qingyi Garden here to honor his mother, Empress Dowager Chongqing, forming a 20-kilometer-long royal garden area from the current Tsinghua Garden to Xiangshan.
1860 (the tenth year of Emperor Xianfeng’s reign) : The Old Summer Palace was burned down by the British and French allied forces.
1888 (the 14th year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu) : It was rebuilt and renamed the Summer Palace as a summer resort.
In the 26th year of Emperor Guangxu’s reign (1900), the Summer Palace was destroyed by the “Eight-Nation Alliance” and all treasures were looted. After the fall of the Qing Dynasty, the Summer Palace was in the midst of warlords’ melee and the Kuomintang’s rule.
1914 ( the third year of the Republic of China ): The Summer Palace was opened to the public.
1998 : The Summer Palace was listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO and one of the first national 5A-level tourist attractions in China.
Summer Palace Tour Route
Highlights Route (2-3 hours)
New Palace Gate→Bronze Bull→Seventeen-Arch Bridge→Cruise Boat→Marble Boat→Long Corridor→Paiyun Gate→Leshou Hall→Yulan Hall→Renshou Hall→East Palace Gate Exit
In-depth tour route (6-7 hours)
West Gate→Northern Section of West Bank→Marble Boat→Long Corridor→Paiyun Hall→Buddha Incense Pavilion→Sea of Wisdom→Four Continents→Suzhou Street→Eastern Section of Houhu Lake→Harmonious Garden→Palace District→Seventeen-Arch Bridge→New Palace Gate Exit
Family Route
New Palace Gate→Bronze Bull→Seventeen-Arch Bridge→Nanhu Island→Cruise Boat→Qingyan Boat (Stone Boat)→Long Corridor→Dehe Garden Theater→Wenchang Courtyard
Introduction to the main attractions of the Summer Palace
Renshou Hall
Renshou Hall
Located to the east of Yulan Hall, Renshou Hall was built in the 15th year of Emperor Qianlong’s reign (1750) and was originally named Qinzheng Hall. It was burned down by the British and French allied forces in the 10th year of Emperor Xianfeng’s reign (1860). When it was rebuilt in the 12th year of Emperor Guangxu’s reign (1886), it was renamed Renshou Hall, which means “the benevolent live long” in the Analects of Confucius. Renshou Hall was the place where Empress Dowager Cixi and Emperor Guangxu met with ministers during their stay in the Summer Palace. Renshou Hall, the north and south side halls, and the north and south nine ministers’ rooms outside Renshou Gate constituted the political activity area of the Qing Dynasty in Guhe Garden. Renshou Hall is seven rooms wide, with five side halls on each side of the north and south. On the terrace outside Renshou Hall, four large bronze tripod furnaces from the Qianlong period and a pair of bronze dragons, bronze phoenixes and bronze vats from the Guangxu period are displayed. The bronze monster squatting on the stone Xumi pedestal in the courtyard is a unicorn moved from the ruins of the Old Summer Palace. In the center of Renshou Hall is the Nine Dragon Throne, which symbolizes the feudal imperial power. In front of the throne is the “Imperial Case”, and behind the throne is a pair of palm fans decorated with peacock feathers and a screen with more than 200 different writings of the word “Shou”. On and around the flat bed are cloisonné phoenixes, horn ends, crane lanterns, tripod furnaces, dragon pillars, etc. The warm rooms on both sides of the hall were where Cixi and Guangxu rested when they met with princes and ministers. They sometimes summoned ministers here individually. When Cixi celebrated her birthday, she hosted a banquet for princes and ministers in Renshou Hall. In 1898, Emperor Guangxu summoned the leader of the reformists Kang Youwei here to prepare for the reform.
Kunming Lake
Kunming Lake
Kunming Lake, once known as Wengshan Lake and West Lake, is located to the west of the Summer Palace Museum. It has a circumference of about 15 kilometers, an area of about 2.2 square kilometers, an average depth of 1.5 meters, and a maximum depth of 3 meters. Historically, Kunming Lake was a swamp wetland formed by the convergence of many springs at the front edge of the alluvial fan at the foot of the West Mountain. In the 15th year of Emperor Qianlong’s reign (1750), West Lake was renamed “Kunming Lake”.
Seventeen-Arch Bridge
Seventeen-Arch Bridge
The Seventeen-Arch Bridge is located in the middle of the east bank, lying between the South Lake Island and the East Embankment of Kunming Lake. It is a stone-built arch bridge built during the Qianlong period when the Qingyi Garden was built and Kunming Lake was expanded. The Seventeen-Arch Bridge is 150 meters long and 8 meters wide. There are 17 arch holes under the bridge, the middle one is the tallest, and it gradually becomes smaller towards the sides. There are nine holes from both sides to the middle, which means “Nine Fives”. The bridge deck of the Seventeen-Arch Bridge is decorated with white marble railings on both sides. There are 124 pillars on both sides of the bridge. Each pillar is carved with a stone lion, and there are 544 stone lions on the bridge. A pair of stone beasts are also carved at the east and west ends of the bridge. A bronze bull is placed at the bridgehead of the Seventeen-Arch Bridge to calm the waves and bring good luck. There is an 80-character seal script inscription on the back of the bull: “Xia Yu controlled the flood, and the iron bull was praised. The righteousness of calming the waves is followed by future generations.” At the Seventeen-Arch Bridge, you can enjoy the “golden light shining through the holes”, that is, the sunlight just shines on the side walls of all the bridge holes of the Seventeen-Arch Bridge in the Summer Palace. In 2020, there was a heavy snow in the traditional Chinese twenty-four solar terms. The weather in Beijing was fine that day, and the “golden light shining through the holes” landscape was staged at the Seventeen-Arch Bridge in the Summer Palace.
Nanhu Island
Nanhu Island
Nanhu Island is located to the west of the Seventeen-Arch Bridge and is also known as Penglai Island. It covers an area of about 10,000 square meters. Nanhu Island was formed by digging out the surrounding soil during the Qianlong period to expand Kunming Lake. During the Ming Dynasty, a temple dedicated to the Dragon King was built on the island, named Guangrun Lingyu Temple. It was rebuilt in the 16th year of the Guangxu period of the Qing Dynasty (1890) and renamed the Dragon King Temple. The berth of Nanhu Island is built with neat boulders and protected by blue-white stone railings. The north of Nanhu Island is a rockery made of rocks. The main buildings on Nanhu Island include Guangrun Lingyu Temple, Yuebo Tower, Dragon King Temple, Hanxu Hall, etc. Hanxu Hall, also known as Hanxu Hall, was originally a three-story pavilion-style building. It was rebuilt into a single-story building during the Guangxu period of the Qing Dynasty. A terrace was built in the south of the hall and decorated with railings around it. Nanhu Island offers views of Kunming Lake. Empress Dowager Cixi once watched the Beiyang Navy exercises in the lake here and went to the Dragon King Temple to worship the Dragon King.
Fun Park
Fun Park
The Garden of Harmonious Interests is located in the northeast corner of the Summer Palace, north of the East Palace Gate of the Summer Palace, and east of the Back Lake. The Garden of Harmonious Interests was built in the 16th year of Emperor Qianlong’s reign (1751) in imitation of the Jichang Garden in Huishan, Wuxi, and was originally named Huishan Garden. After being renovated in the 16th year of Emperor Jiaqing’s reign (1811), it was renamed the Garden of Harmonious Interests, which means “to use the tranquility of the world outside to harmonize the harmony of the fields”. In the 10th year of Emperor Xianfeng’s reign (1860), the Garden of Harmonious Interests was burned down by the British and French forces, and was rebuilt in the 18th year of Emperor Guangxu’s reign (1892). In the center of the Garden of Harmonious Interests is a pond, and around the pond are pavilions, towers, halls, pavilions, studios, and terraces such as Zhichun Pavilion, Yinjing, Xiqiu, Yinlu, Bi, Zhichun Hall, Xiaoyoutian, Lanting, Zhanqing Pavilion, Hanyuan Hall, Zhuxin Building, and Chengshuangzhai. The banks around the pond are made of Taihu stones, with lotus planted in the pond and weeping willows planted on the shore. The Zhiyu Bridge to the east of the Xiqu Garden has the three characters “Zhiyu Bridge” written by Emperor Qianlong on the stone archway at the bridgehead. “Zhiyu” comes from the debate between Zhuangzi and Huizi, ancient Chinese scholars, on whether fish are happy or not on the Hao River. There are also some poems written by Emperor Qianlong engraved on the stone archway at the bridgehead, which repeatedly quote the story of whether fish are happy or not.
Four continents
Four continents
The Four Continents are located to the west of the Danning Hall in the Summer Palace. They are a group of Tibetan Buddhist temple buildings on the central axis of the back mountain of the Summer Palace. The Four Continents were built during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty and were modeled after the Samaya Temple of Tibetan Buddhism. When Qianlong worshipped Buddha in the Four Continents, the rituals and ritual vessels were all in accordance with the norms of Tibetan Buddhism. The Four Continents not only echo the Great Baoen Yanshou Temple on the central axis of the front mountain in terms of garden layout, but also have the political significance of Qingyi Garden’s promotion of Tibetan culture. In the tenth year of Emperor Xianfeng’s reign in the Qing Dynasty (1860), the Four Continents were destroyed by the British and French Allied Forces. When the Summer Palace was rebuilt in 1886, the Xiangyan Zongyin Pavilion was rebuilt into a one-story Buddhist hall, and the Nanzhanbuzhou was rebuilt into a mountain gate, while the rest were left in ruins. The walls were broken and the stone and brick roads were cracked. In 1980, the Summer Palace Administration rebuilt the Four Continents. The roof of the upper Han-style building in the Four Continents is a cement and steel structure. There are 21 ancient buildings and 21 Buddha statues, including the Sun Platform, Moon Platform, Lama Pagoda, and Buddha Hall.
Suzhou Street
Suzhou Street
Suzhou Street is located behind Wanshou Mountain, in the northwest of the Four Continents. It is also known as Wanshou Shopping Street and Houxihe Shopping Street. There is no clear record of the exact construction time of Suzhou Street. The academic community believes that it was built around the 20th to 29th year of Qianlong’s reign (1755-1764). Suzhou Street is 270 meters long. Its prototype is Shantang Street in Suzhou. The architectural layout imitates the “one water and two streets” form commonly seen in eastern Zhejiang. There are more than 60 buildings and more than 200 shops. In the tenth year of Emperor Xianfeng’s reign (1860), Suzhou Street was burned down by a fire by the British and French coalition forces. On October 15, 1986, the reconstruction project of Houhu Shopping Street, planned by the Summer Palace Management Office and designed by Tsinghua University, officially started. The entire project took 4 years. It was opened to the public on September 16, 1990.
Qingyan Boat
Qingyan Boat
Qingyanfang, also known as Shifang, is located in the northwest of Kunming Lake, the west of Wanshou Mountain, and the southwest of Tingli Pavilion. Qingyanfang was built in the 20th year of Emperor Qianlong’s reign (1755). It is 36 meters long and is built of huge stones. It originally had Chinese-style cabins. In the 10th year of Emperor Xianfeng’s reign (1860), Qingyanfang was burned down by the British and French forces. When it was rebuilt in the 19th year of Emperor Guangxu’s reign (1893), it was changed to a Western-style cabin and named “Qingyanfang” with the meaning of “peaceful rivers and peaceful seas”.