Day 2, Summer Palace

The gorgeous weather lasted throughout the day.  After lunch our driver drove us to the Summer Palace, the Imperial Gardens originally built in 1750 (approximately).  The gardens and surrounding buildings were destroyed in 1860 but six years later, reconstruction began.  Unfortunately, the funds used had been earmarked for the Chinese navy so when war occurred a few years later, the Chinese navy was found wanting.

The Summer Palace and gardens have now been designated as a UNESCO Heritage site.  This acreage is a masterpiece of Chinese landscaping garden design.

The Empress Dowager Cixi was an avid fisherperson and she enjoyed fishing in Kunming Lake (2.2 km) in size.  One of the Palace workers stocked the lake with fish to ensure that his Empress was successful each time she enjoyed her hobby.  Kunming Lakes is a man-made lake.

In the lake there is the Marble Boat (Qingyan Fang) which is 36 metres long.  It was started in 1755.

 

The Long Corrider (Chang Lang)  is 728 metres long.  An Emperor had it built for his mother and hundreds of artists decorated the ceiling with paintings ranging from native flora to typical Chinese scenery.  This corridor thoroughly impressed us with the artistic details.

The Summer Palace is also home to many pavilions and temples.   The Tower of Buddhist Incense is the highest building in the complex.  It sits atop Longevity Hall which is 60 metres high.

After walking about the gardens and seeing all the amazing buildings we drove back to Beijing and attended a kung fu show (interesting, but very short performance).  And of course, I must mention our dinner that night:  Peking Duck....yummy!

Another awesome day in Beijing!