The Summer Palace
The Summer Palace, or Garden of Harmonious Unity, lies in a northwestern suburb of Beijing. This is one of the largest and best preserved Imperial Chinese gardens. It is an outstanding example of classical Chinese garden landscaping. All the the man-made hills, halls, pavilions and temples, including Kunming Lake and Longevity Hill, blend together harmoniously inspite of their individual styles.
The emperor of the Jin Dynasty laid the foundation stone in 1153. He also laid out the first garden, the Garden of the Golden Water. During the coming eras, the garden and lake were again enlarged and deepened. Under the Qing Emperor, large-scale work was done, and the park was made into its present size of 290 hectares. Three-fourths of it is taken up by Kunming Lake. Since the Qing period, the garden has been called Garden of Clear Ripples. As the imperial family spent most of the hot summer months here, the palace was soon became known as the Summer Palace.
The palace was burnt down by the Anglo-French Allied Forces in 1860, and was rebuilt in 1865 with Yiheywan as its new name. The Empress Dowager Qi Xi and Emperor Guangqui lived and attended goverment affairs here at the end of the last century and the beginning of the present.
According to the Guiness World Book of Records, the Summer Palace contains the world's longest hand-painted corridor. Known as the Long Corridor, it measures over 728 meters, and each surface is covered in unique handpainted images.
Interesting Links:
China Vista: The Summer Palace
Window into China: The Summer Palace
Summer Palace, an Imperial Garden in Beijing
China Vista: The Summer Palace, a Map