Every year, more than two million people visit Beijing’s grand Summer Palace. In centuries past, Chinese emperors favored it above all other royal residences. They especially liked to be there in summertime, when they could enjoy a cool breeze in a wonderful park area, strolling around at leisure and watching the sunset while savoring a glass of wine.
A Walk Through History
The site spreads across 1.1 square miles in the northwest suburbs of Beijing, and three quarters of the space is covered with water. Today, the two principal landmarks are Longevity Hill and Kunming Lake, but this was not always the case. The palace’s history dates back almost 800 years. It was then that the first emperor of the Jin Dynasty (a.d. 265–420) moved his capital close to what is present-day Beijing and built the Gold Mountain Palace. His successors made many changes and even had engineers design channels that would bring water from nearby rivers to the palace area. They used this water to make artificial lakes that served as reservoirs. In time, much of this area became a park. Then, in 1763, Qing emperor Qianlong commissioned the building of the Temple of Gratitude and Longevity Hill to honor the 60th birthday of his mother in 1763. He named it Qinyiyuan (“Park of the Pure Ripples”) and even ordered that the roadways leading from Beijing to the Summer Palace be decorated.
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