Beijing - Summer Palace

The Summer Palace, originally named Garden of Clear Ripples or Qingyi Yuan, was the royal refuge from the insufferable summer heat in the Forbidden City. The site has palace temples, gardens, pavillions, lakes, and corridors on 290 hectares. Lakes make up at least 3/4 of the park.

Many boats fill the lakes.

Paddle boats and the tree lined shore.

The 17-arch bridge

The boat we took across the lake.

One of the crowded corridors with various shaped windows.

Tower of Buddhist Incense

The gang near 17-arch bridge.

One of 14,000 different pictures painted on the beams and cross beams of the Long Corridor.

Ceiling along the Long Corridor which stretches 728 meters from the Gate of the Inviting Moon in the east to the Shizhang Pavillion in the west.

Gate of Dispelling Clouds in the middle of the Long Corridor.

Clear and Peaceful Boat (aka Marble Boat) built in 1755 by Empress Dowager Cixi as a symbol of the stability of the Qing Dynasty.