CHINA'S SUMMER PALACE

                                      A Real Showplace

            Covering 270 square hectares, the Summer Palace is larger than the Forbidden City. Located northwest of Beijing, the Summer Palace is just shy of 10-miles from central Beijing. It is the largest and best preserved royal park in China. The construction started in 1750 as a luxurious royal garden for royal families to rest and entertain. It later became the main residence of royal members at the end of the Qing Dynasty. With a couple of previous names it was renamed the Summer Palace after reconstruction in 1888. In 1900 foreign troops torched the Summer Palace, but it was rebuilt a few years later, and in 1924 was opened to the public.

            In 1949 it underwent major restoration. There are many rocks on the grounds that serve both as scenery and as protectors of good luck. Entering the first court yard we stopped in front of a large bronze imaginary animal—the Royal Statue. The creature had the horns of a deer, the skin of a fish, the hooves of oxen, the tail of a lion, and the head of a dragon. It was pretty weird.  That courtyard led to the Hall of Longevity built in 1750 to celebrate the 60^th birthday of the emperor’s mother. Not surprising the thresholds were high throughout the Summer Palace. In contrast to the Forbidden City, the Summer Palace had numerous lovely spacious gardens and courtyards. The roof tiles were different from others we’d seen. These tiles were long red tube-shaped that flipped at the end. Many buildings contained ornate furnishings and fine art work.

            Stopping in front of a huge but interesting rock our guide explained that it is called the unlucky rock. A long time ago the richest man in the country wanted to move this rock to his home, but half way he ran out of money and abandoned the rock alongside the road. Later the emperor saw the rock and had it moved to the palace. But the palace was already built and the rock wouldn’t fit though the gate. So part of the palace had to be disassembled to get the rock into the courtyard. I’m not sure when all that happened.

         

Covered walkway

   We strolled down the half-mile covered walkway, which provided a walking area for the empress during inclement weather. Beautiful murals were painted all along the ceiling of the walkway roof. During the Cultural Revolution the ceiling was whitewashed to protect all these lovely murals. After the revolution the whitewash was removed. The walkway ended at the marble boat, an elaborate two-deck pavilion of marble and stained glass---an interesting and unusual site.

   A lot of bamboo grew on the grounds. Bamboo, a symbol of strength, bends but never breaks, which is quite typical of the Chinese themselves over the centuries.

            The whole area radiates natural beauty and the royal gardens are not only grand but also beautiful. Over 3,000 manmade ancient structures including pavilions, towers, bridges,

Marble Boat

corridors, etc account for building space of more than 70,000 square meters.

            Kunming Lake covers two-thirds of the grounds. The lake has two stone bridges to a manmade island in the center. The lake is formed and fed by natural springs. We ended our tour of the Summer Palace by taking a boat ride across the lake.

            In 1998 UNESCO declared the Summer Palace a World Heritage Site declaring it  "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."

      It is a fantastic place and was a wonderful visit on a lovely sunny day.