Old Summer Palace

Royal gardens usually integrate the essence of various gardens from home and abroad, and present changing views and characteristics of famous gardens, such as Xiyuan Sanhai (now Zhongnanhai), the Old Summer Palace, Qingyi Yuan (Garden of Clear Ripples). But the Old Summer Palace is especially prominent.

The Old Summer Palace enjoyed a good reputation all over the world with its large regional scale, outstanding construction techniques, splendid building complexes, rich cultural collections and profound national culture connotations. The garden inherited the tradition of Chinese royal gardens of more than 3,000 years of history. It featured elegance and luxury of royal architectures, and the gentleness and gorgeousness of gardens in the south of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River. In the meantime, it also learned from the style of European gardens. The overall layout was harmonious and perfect, symbolizing the high level of construction techniques of Chinese ancient gardens.

The Old Summer Palace was a gift for Emperor Kangxi’s fourth son, Yongzheng. At that time, it was outclassed by Changchun Garden. After Yongzheng ascended the throne, he greatly expanded the imperial garden. Unfortunately, owing to the war during the end of the Qing Dynasty, we cannot witness its glory with our eyes, but it can be learned from the literature.

Address: No. 28, Qinghua West Road, Haidian District, Beijing 北京市海淀区清华西路28号