Located in the Haidian district in Western Beijing, Yuanmingyuan shares bounds with the Summer Palace. Firstly established in the 46th year during Emperor Kangxi’s reign (1707), it was composed of three gardens, namely, Yuanming, Changchun (Garden of Eternal Spring) and Qichun (Garden of Blossoming Spring). Covering an area of 350 hectares (over 5,200 mu), among which 140 hectares (2,100 mu) are of water, containing more than one hundred scenic spots, it’s a large-scale imperial garden with an construction area of over 160,000 square meters run by the Qing emperors for over 150 years.

Yuanmingyuan has inherited the traditions of Chinese gardens during over 3,000 years, with a combination of both the grandeur of imperial buildings and the exquisiteness of private gardens in Yangtze River Delta. It absorbs the European style and melts distinctive features together to create an overall harmonious beauty. It deserves the remark “although made by people, it resembles nature”.Yuanmingyuan was not only well known for its landscape and gardens. It was also an imperial museum with a vast collection. The French writer Victor Hugo once remarked, “With all its treasures, Notre Dame in Paris is no match for Yuanmingyuan, that enormous and magnificent museum in the East”. Halls there were decorated with numerous Rosewood furniture and precious treasures both at home and abroad. The Wenyuan Hall (Hall of Literary Profundity), being one of the four most famous imperial libraries, originally housed such precious ancient books as The Complete Library of Four Branches of Books, The Completed Collection of Graphs and Writings of Ancient and Modern Times and Gems of the Complete Library of Four Branches of Books, and so on.Unfortunately, this well-known garden suffered raids and destruction of the Anglo-French Allied Forces in October 1860. Then after numerous ravages and ruin, it became a wasteland at last. Through hardships and tortures, it resembles part of the history in Modern China with astonishing values.The burning of Yuanmingyuan: In the 10th year during Emperor Xianfeng’s reign (1860), Anglo-French Allied Forces seized Beijing and occupied the garden on October 6th. Chinese soldiers were too few to fight against them that the Minister General Wenfeng killed himself by jumping into the Fuhai Lake. For two days, the allied forces sacked Yuanmingyuan for its way into the city. On October 11, an army of over 1,200 troopers and soldiers once again was sent to loot. James Blues, the British representative, made it a prerequisite for peace negotiation to burn it on the excuse of imprisoning Parkes there.