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颐health和harmony园garden（the Summer Palace）
The Summer Palace is one of Beijing’s famous historical sites. Constructed in 1750, its original name was Qingyi Yuan清漪园 (Garden of Clear Ripples). In 1860 Anglo-French Allied Forces razed the palace to the ground. The Qing Government started to rebuild the park in 1886. Two years later, the reconstruction was complete and the garden was renamed as Yihe Yuan颐和园 (Garden of Health and Harmony).
This Yihe Yuan at that time was served as a summer resort for the Empress Dowager Cixi慈禧, and so came to be known as The Summer Palace. The palace was again ravaged by the Allied Forces of the Eight Powers八国联军, which invaded China in 1900, and new repairs were made in 1902.
The palace covers an area of 2.9 square kilometers, three quarters of which is under water. The landscape is dominated primarily by Longevity Hill万寿山 and Kunming Lake昆明湖. The park’s 70000 square meters of ground space features a vriety of palaces, gardens, and other fine examples of traditional Chinese architecture and landscape design. It is also well known for its large, priceless collection of cultural relics.
In December 1998, UNESCO added The Summer Palace to its World Heritage List. If you are interested in the past 500 years of Chinese history, then the Summer Palace is a must-see!
