In 1990 Unesco designated the Summer Palace (12km from the centre of Beijing) a world heritage site. It is China’s largest and most well preserved imperial garden which has been styled from many different palaces and gardens from all over China. Its chinese name is ‘yee her yuan’ which means Garden of Peace and Harmony.The history of the site of the gardens dates back to the Mongol Emperor Kublai Khan who improved Beijing’s water supply by constructing canals which transported water from the Western Hills to Kunming Lake (which he had enlarged). This lake served as a reservoir for Beijing and still does to this very day. The gardens of the the Summer Palace have been dated from 1115 to 1234 (Jin Dynasty) and this historical location was used as a summer retreat and playground by many of China’s imperial rulers.

Allied Anglo French Forces invaded Beijing and set fire to many of the buildings within the Summer Palace during an invasion in 1860 and in 1886 and Dowager Empress CiXi embezzled funds from the Imperial Navy and restored the gardens.

In spite of their individual styles, the beautiful Kunming Lake, halls, bridges, pavilions and temples, harmoniously blend together to form China’s garden of gardens. We hope you enjoy our video travel tours of the summer palace in Beijing below.

The dancers in this Chinese opera are esquisite, their movements are precise and their costumes are spectacular. Click on the video travel tour below to see these beautiful Chinese dancers in action.

Martial arts originally started in ancient China and was used for hunting, entertainment, self defense, military training and fighting. There are a number of styles that evolved from mimicking movements from mammals, birds and insects, and there are other styles that gather inspiration from various Chinese philosophies, myths and legends. Traditional schools of martial arts (such as the shaolin) dealt with kung fu as a system of study, ethics, and development of philosophy as well as self defense and mental training. Martial arts styles can also be categorized by location, for example, northern, southern, or even by their province, city or religion. Throughout history martial arts practitioners have looked for supplementary income by performing on the streets or in theaters, and that has evolved through to today where you find many of these skilled artists performing in acrobatic and theatrical productions all over China. Popular names for Chinese martial arts are Kung fu and wushu and training consists of basics which are a vital part of the training, students cannot progress to the more advanced stages without them. Forms, which help develop strong and flexible muscles, proper body mechanics, and the management of the ‘chi’ concept (breath, or energy) of life force that is said to animate living beings. Applications and weapons, of which there are a large and varied selection of played a big part in the military history of China. These days, the philosophy of Chinese martial arts are seldom portrayed in depth, but it still plays a huge part in China’s culture as it is found in most cinema, TV, and opera productions. The Beijing Opera Company is renowned for producing cinematic martial arts heroes in China through it’s arduous training regime. If you click on the video travel tours below you will see some classic Chinese theatrical martial arts in action.