Beijing Summer Palace

initial_pavillion — This pavilion is near the visitor’s entrance. Inside are dozens of people signing patriotic songs along with a small band and a song leader.

The Summer Palace is a vast ensemble of lakes, gardens, and palaces in Beijing, China. The two most notable features are Longevity Hill and Kunming Lake.

17_arch_bridge — 17 arch bridge connection Nanhu Island

Longevity Hill

Longevity Hill is about 200 feet high and has many buildings positioned in sequence. The front hill is studded with halls and pavilions, and the back hill is mostly forested paths. The central Kunming Lake, covering 540 acres, was entirely man-made and the excavated soil was used to build Longevity Hill.

family_with_david — Family with David, our tour guide, near the entrance. In the background is Longevity Hill

The Long Corridor

The Long Corridor stretches from the Hall of Joy and Longevity in the east to Shizhang Pavilion in the west. The entire corridor is 728 meters long and contains artistic decorations, including paintings of famous places in China, and scenes from Chinese mythology and folktale

Pergola along the Long Corridor

Painted ceiling of pergola

Building in front of Longevity Hill, now a converted restaurant specializing in Imperial Cuisine.

arched_bridge — Arched bridge over lily pond in front of Longevity Hill

Tower of Buddhist Incense

Located right in the center of the front hill of Longevity Mountain. The tower was originally meant to be a nine-storey Buddhist pagoda built to resemble the Yellow Crane Tower. The Qianlong Emperor ordered the construction to be stopped just after the eighth story was built. The tower was built on a 20-metre-tall stone base, measures three stories and 41 meters in height, and is supported by eight ironwood pillars. Empress Dowager Cixi visited the tower to offer incense and pray.

Sea of Wisdom

Located on the peak of Longevity Hill. It was built from colored glass and houses over 1,000 statues of Buddhist figures. It was partially damaged during the Cultural Revolution.

Stone Boat

family_marble_boat — I like to call this one: The Descent

The Stone Boat is 96 meters long. The original wooden boat was burnt in 1860 and has been replaced with a marble copy with western style paddle wheels. Anyways, there was a boat/building and we avoided a family meltdown with a well-situationed hotdog stand.