While in Beijing last year, Michelle and I toured the Summer Palace! Towards the northwest of Beijing you can visit the estate and it's gardens, which sits on a hill next to an impressive man made lake.
Back in the day, the Summer Palace (頤和園) was essentially a playground for China's emperors. When they were tired of their company and the old imperial city they could escape to the beautiful gardens of the Summer Palace.
In 1998, UNESCO added the Summer Palace to its list of World Heritage sites. The Summer Palace was called "a masterpiece of Chinese landscape garden design. The natural landscape of hills and open water is combined with artificial features such as pavilions, halls, palaces, temples and bridges to form a harmonious ensemble of outstanding aesthetic value". wikipedia
The lake, which the palace overlooks is called the Kunming Lake. It covers just over 540 acres and is entirely man-made, feeding from the Jade River. The hill on which the palace is built is called Longevity Hill.
The Summer Palace began it's life as a royal garden before Emperor Qianlong transformed the property in the 18th century. They say it took over 100,000 men just to dig the lake.
In total there are six different sections or scenic areas at the Summer Palace: the Halls, Longevity Hill, Kunming Lake, the Farming and Weaving Picture Scenic Area, the Long Corridor, and the Central Axis area.
The Summer Palace is a highlight of China for sure. We enjoyed visiting, and I hope you enjoy the pictures below.
Photos of Beijing's Summer Palace
Tower of Buddhist Incense:
Featured in the top image, The Hall of Dispelling Clouds:
The Hall of Benevolence & Longevity:
Palace Entryway:
This Kylin (Qilin) statue was cast during the Qing dynasty. The legendary animal had the power to punish evil and repel wickedness. It has a dragon head, lion tail, ox hooves, deer antlers, and scales around the body:
Kunming Lake:
The Heralding Spring Pavilion juts out on a little island on the side of Kunming Lake:
Wenchang Tower:
The Chinese emperors were fascinated by uniquely shaped stones. The Blue Iris Stone is the largest stone decoration in any Chinese garden:
Photos from around the gardens:
Yunhui Yuyu Archway (the Glowing Clouds and Holy Land Archway):
Long Corridor Pavilion:
The Stone Boat. The original wooden boat was burnt in 1860 and has been replaced with a marble version:
Michelle and I took a month to travel across Japan and China last May (2017). It was epic! Follow me, @slickwilly and Michelle, @curiouser for posts about our travel adventures!
Hi there, I’m Will. First and foremost I am an entrepreneur and voluntaryist. I aspire to help build a more free world, one that we all want to live in. Some of my biggest passions include cryptocurrencies, marketing, finance, cannabis, traveling, bodybuilding, snowboarding, motorcycles, and Subarus. All pictures are my own unless otherwise stated. I release everything under CC0.
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