The Long Corridor of the Summer Palace is the longest in its kind among the classic Chinese gardens and also the longest gallery in China. Its eastern end starts from the Gate of Greeting the Moon, the west gate in the west courtyard of the Hall of Joyful Longevity, and the western end is at the Shizhang Pavilion. The 728 meter-long corridor has 273 rooms and over 14,000 colorful paintings. In 1990, the Long Corridor was included in Guinness World Records as the longest and the best preserved colored corridor in the world. Watch the column of each room along the gallery, and you may find the reason why it’s honored such an award.

Starting from the Gate of Greeting the Moon, the first painting is the panorama of the West Lake. It is estimated that there are a total of 546 colorful paintings about the West Lake along the Long Corridor, which means each of the 273 rooms has two such paintings. Why does the gallery have so many paintings of the West Lake? We all know the history of Emperor Qianlong’s six tours to regions south of the Yangtze River. After returning to Beijing, Emperor Qianlong was unable to forget about the beautiful scenery, and then decided to depict the beauty in his own residence partly by building gardens and partly by creating those paintings. Aside from the works about the West Lake, there are also paintings by Western artists. If there were no invasion by the Anglo-French force, you may find the authentic paintings by Giuseppe, an Italian who served as a royal painter for the Qing dynasty, whose works can be seen at the Gate of Greeting the Moon. The corridor we are looking at now was rebuilt during the reign of Emperor Guangxu.

There colorful paintings of the Long Corridor cover a wide range of themes including historical stories and legends. The stories on historical figures alone are rich in content and cover a long time span, from the Three Sage “Kings” and Five Virtuous “Emperors”, namely Fuxi, Shennong, Yao, Shun and Yu to the rulers in Tang and Song dynasties and emperors of the Qing dynasty. There are also many paintings about Chinese myths popular with the ordinary people such as Chang E Flying to the Moon, Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea and Magu Presenting Longevity. Some themes are borrowed from classic Chinese novels including Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Journey to the West, The Water Margin, The Yang’s Saga, General Yuefei, The Romance of West Chamber, and Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio. The reconstructed Long Corridor is different from the one constructed during the reign of Emperor Qianlong. The difference is that more subjects were added to the paintings. For example, as Water Margin and Dream of the Red Chambers now included were banned books during the reign of Emperor Qianlong, they couldn’t be depicted in the colorful paintings of the Long Gallery.

There are four pavilions along the Long Corridor, and the Qingyao Pavilion is the most interesting one. Kunming Lake freezes in winter and the Qingyao Pavilion serves as the division. To the east of the Qingyao Pavilion, the lake freezes allowing ice-skating and walking. To the west of Qingyao Pavilion, the lake doesn’t freeze and there will still be ripples across the water. The contrasting scenes thus create a special sight. That’s all for the introduction to the Long Corridor.