25 Must-See Buildings in China
© Ron Gatepain Beijing’s Yi He Yuan, or the Summer Palace, is a complex of halls, towers, kiosks, and pavilions in a 720-acre (290-ha) park around Kunminghu lake, about 12 miles (19 km) northwest of Tiananmen. It was commissioned by Emperor Qianlong in 1750 as the Qingyi Yuan (Garden of Clear Ripples), which developed into the imperial summer residence. It was attacked by foreign armies in 1860 and 1900, and rebuilt on each occasion. The Dowager Empress Cixi lived here from 1889 until her death, and she is said to have funded the restoration and expansion of the Summer Palace with money di...
Source: britannica.com