Old Summer Palace – Yuanmingyuan

Yuanmingyuan is a famous royal garden in the Qing Dynasty. It consists of three districts, Yuanmingyuan, Changchun Garden and Hunchun Garden. It is very rich and beautiful in history. In 1860, it was mostly destroyed during a long complicated conflict between British/French and Chinese. Now visitors can only hang in the wreckage and admire the past glory.

The garden landscape of Yuanmingyuan is mostly water-themed, winning with waterscapes, both broad and calm lakes and narrow and rushing streams. Yuanmingyuan is mainly composed of two major areas: Fuhai Seaview and Houhu Scenic Area.

Fuhai is the largest water surface in the garden. It is the meaning of the “Furu East Sea” and is the water recreation center of the Royal Royal Garden at that time. In the center of the sea, there are three square islands of different sizes connected by bridges. Along the coast of Fuhai, there are numerous small water surface loops, with stacked stone piles and mountains, and gathered into a post, forming nearly 100 layers of layers, the natural space of mountains and waters, just like Tiancheng.

The Houhu Scenic Area is located in the western part of Fuhai. It is built around the back lake and has nine small islands.

Hunchun Garden
Hunchun Garden, also known as “Wanchun Garden”, consists of Zhuyuan, Hanhui Garden, Xishuang Village, and the northern half of Chunheyuan. It was once one of the main premises of Qingjiaqing Emperor’s long-term garden. After Daoguang, it was mainly used as a garden for the Empress Dowager. There are many small attractions in the park, which is a large collection of small water gardens.

Today, Hunchun Garden is the main venue for the annual Lotus Festival in Yuanmingyuan. There are large lotus flowers planted on the water surface in the garden. In the summer season, the lotus blossoms bloom, and the entire Hunchun Garden is a colorful flower. It is also a good experience to row a boat and admire the lotus leaves.

Park Changchun
Changchun large garden with water features as the main body. The core building of the year contained a large scale of Jingtang buildings, and its layout was based on the Ningshou Palace of the Forbidden City. It was the residence of the Emperor Qianlong after his abdication. There is a lion forest in the northeast corner of the park, which is modeled after the Suzhou Lion Forest. A series of European-style garden buildings have been built in the northwest of the park, which is commonly known as the “Western Building”. The well-known “Da Shui Law” is located here.

In addition, there are more than ten buildings and gardens such as Harmony, Line Method Bridge, Haitang Hall, Yuanjing Temple, Guanshui Method, Line Law Mountain and Line Law Wall, but only one piece of debris is left now, only in the ruins. Zhongyao wants to be the grand occasion of the year.

The Huanghua array in the scenic area of Yuanyangyuan Xiyang Building is a rectangular labyrinth that resembles European style. When the palace ladies and eunuchs played here, the emperor and the cognac sat on the high platform to watch. Because the palace lady was holding the lanterns made by the yellow flowers, it was called the yellow flower array. At this point in the garden, you must take a look at the maze and feel the atmosphere of the people and the people.

Old Summer Palace is located near the Summer Palace and entry ticket for adults is 25 RMB.

Map