The Summer Palace (颐和园), located 15km northwest of the Forbidden City, is a grand collection of stunningly beautiful gardens and pavilions. As a UNESCO World Heritage site, it is considered "the world's finest example of a Chinese imperial garden" and "a masterpiece of Chinese landscape garden design". It combines political and administrative, residential, spiritual, and recreational functions within a landscape of lakes and mountains, in accordance with Chinese philosophy's ethos of balancing the works of man with nature. For centuries, emperors and empresses spent their leisure time there, adding to its great aesthetic value today. The Summer Palace has also greatly influenced Chinese horticulture and landscape gardening.

Emperor Qianlong first built the Summer Palace (Yiheyuan) in 1750 (completed in 1764) to celebrate his mother's sixtieth birthday. It was four times the size of the Forbidden City, roughly the same size as Central Park in New York or twice the size of Hyde Park in London. At that time, it was called Qingyiyuan (Clear Ripples Garden). Though largely destroyed in the Second Opium War of the 1850s, it was reconstructed by Emperor Guangxu for use by Empress Dowager Cixi, who renamed it the Summer Palace. Dowager Empress Cixi took up permanent residence there to live a peaceful life in her old age. Although damaged again during the Boxer Rebellion in 1900, it was restored and has been a public park since 1924. You are highly recommended to spend at least half a day there, enjoying activities such as boating on Kunming Lake, walking the Long Corridor, and watching traditional Chinese performances in the ancient theater.

Beijing Summer Palace

Summer Palace