Originally called the Garden of Clear Ripples, it was built in 1750 to 1764 by Emperor Qianlong during the Qing dynasty. It was burned by Anglo-French Allied forces in 1850s during the Second Opium War.
It was then reconstructed by Emperor Gungxu for the Empress Dowager Cixi in 1888 and renamed the Summer Palace. It is said that the Empress embezzled navy funds in order to rebuild. She spent the rest of her life here.
The Summer Palace was damaged once again during the Boxer Rebellion in 1900. It was once again restored and became a public park in 1924.
It was my favorite of all the places we visited in China. I only wish we could have spent more time there. But it was our final full day in China and there were too many other things I also wanted to see before leaving...
It covers nearly 745 acres only 9 miles outside of Beijing and is comprised of over 3,000 man-made structures, Longevity Hill and Kunming Lake. And we only got to see a tiny portion of it...
Stone of the God of Longevity
You don't get a sense of the size of the lily pads until you notice the guy in the boat
these guys wrote on the sidewalk in water
the bottom one says "USA is our good friend forever".
He wrote that one just for us. :)
the Hill of Longevity in the distance
The museum - I only took pictures of some of the oldest pieces but there were many many gorgeous items on display there
from the Song Dynasty (960-1279)
from the Han Dynasty (206BC-220AD)
from the Warring States Period (475BC-221BC)
Everything there was so intricate and beautiful and detailed.
even the rock work was beautiful
I didn't know there were Hobbits in China LOL
Then it was time to start climbing...
What is it with China and steep stairs??? LOL
(and it wasn't raining... that moisture in my hair is just from the humidity in the air!)
The view was spectacular!
But there was still more to climb...
the Tower of Buddhist Incense (and below)
Then we finally reached the top!
Thankfully it is much easier going back down...
note the intricate wave design carved into the base of the rock
It was very hard to leave but Mr Luo was ready to take us to our next destination...
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