Beautiful Places On Earth

In case if you do not know, Summer Palace refers to both the Old Summer Palace (also known as Yuanming Yuan) and the Summer Palace (also known as Yihe Yuan). Both the palaces are located next to each other northwest of Beijing city center. The Old Summer Palace had suffered 2 major invasions before, namely the Anglo-French allied invasion in 1860 and the 8 power allied force invasion in 1900. It survived and was rebuilt.

Today, the Summer Palace is widely referred to the former Garden of Clear Ripples constructed in 1750 during the Manchu Qing Dynasty by Emperor Qianlong. The garden was first built in celebration of the emperor mother’s 60th birthday. The Garden of Clear Ripples was renamed to Yihe Yuan by Emperor Guangxu in 1888. The Summer Palace has a total area of 2.9 square kilometers and consists of a 60-meter high Longevity Hill and the Kunming Lake. On the Longevity Hill, one could find Hall of Dispelling Clouds, Hall of the Sea of Wisdom, Tower of Buddhist Incense and many other structures of Qing Dynasty architectural styles. The Kunming Lake, meanwhile is a large man made lake built to resemble the West Lake in Hangzhouo.

Yihe Yuan – the Summer Palace in Beijing

The Summer Palace in Beijing was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1998.

Beijing is the capital and also the second largest city of the People’s Republic of China. Since the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, Beijing has undergone gigantic waves of modernization, with railways and motorways passing through the city as well as big shopping complexes and high rise buildings at every corner of the city. If you want to have a taste on the other side of Beijing, you should really visit one of the Hutongs.

The term “hutong” first appeared during the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368). It is believed to be a Mongolian term which means “water wells”. Hutongs are actually alleys formed by lines of Siheyuan, a traditional Chinese courtyard surrounded on 4 sides by buildings. It is the cultural and historical centre of grassroots Beijing people over 6 dynasties. However, the number of Hutongs has declined over the years. Many of these Hutongs are demolished and replaced with modern buildings. If you are to experience a traditional Beijing, quickly visit the Hutongs in Beijing before all of them disappearing in the midst of modernization over the next few decades.

Hutong – bystreet in Beijing

The Forbidden City was the Chinese imperial palace from the mid of Ming Dynasty to the end of Qing Dynasty. It was built from 1406 to 1420. For almost 5 centuries, it served as the home of the Emperor and his household. It is the world’s largest surviving palace complex and covers 72 hectares. The whole area of Forbidden City is in rectangular shape, with 961 meters from north to south and 753 meters from east to west.

Today, the site is most commonly known as Gugong or Former Palace. The Forbidden City consists of 980 surviving buildings with 8,707 rooms, and is divided into inner and outer courts. It was designed to be the centre of an ancient walled city in Beijing. Thus, it is surrounded by a city wall with average height of 7.9 meters. The palace demonstrates traditional Chinese palatial architecture and has influenced cultural and architectural developments in East Asia and elsewhere. It was declared as World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1987. The Palace Museum meanwhile, has an extensive collection of artwork and artifacts from the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The museum which is based inside these buildings is known as the Palace Museum.

Forbidden City

Imperial Palace

The Forbidden City of China is located in the middle of Beijing, China. It is connected to Tiananmen Square in the south and Yongdingmen in the north. We can help to plan your trip to the Forbidden City of China.