Posted by China

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.