History of Summer Palace

Summer Palace has a history of over 800 years. At the beginning of the 12th century, the Golden Hill palace was built here in 1153.

Construction: Large scale construction of the Summer Palace was taken placed during the Emperor Qianlong in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). At that time, the Qing Dynasty was in its heyday and China was a powerful Asian country with vast territories. With supreme power and large sums of money, Emperor Qianlong summoned skillful and ingenious artisans from all over the country to carry out this construction work in honor of his mother's birthday. After 15 years and one seventh of the nation's annual revenue spent, the Garden of Clear Ripples was completed and served as a testimony to China's scientific and technological achievements.

Destroy: In 1860, this vast royal garden was burnt down along with the Yuanming Yuan (Garden of Perfection and Brightness) by Anglo-French allied forces.

Rebuild: In 1888, Empress Dowager Cixi reconstructed the garden on the same site and renamed it the Garden of Nurtured Harmony (Summer Palace).

Liberate: In 1924, the year when the last Emperor Puyi was driven out of the Forbidden City, the Summer Palace turned from an imperial garden to a public park.

Present: Summer Palace of today is more or less the same as the palace rebuilt in 1903. This old imperial garden now becomes an ideal place for Beijing locals to retreat from the hot summer in Beijing.