Beijing Photo Gallery - Yuan Ming Yuan Part 1

Yuan Ming Yuan, or the Old Summer Palace, was dubbed the "Versailles of the East". Spread across 350 hectares of landscaped gardens, it was a set of 5 residences for the Qing rulers, with construction starting in the early 18th century. Each residence has its own building, artificial lakes, and water systems, meant to become a miniature model of the lands under the emperor's rule. There were also European-style buildings as well with stone facades built over Chinese wood frames that were designed by Jesuit missionaries.

Today, it lies in ruins, ransacked, looted, then burned to the ground by Anglo-French forces during the Second Opium War in retribution for several negotiators being killed while persuading for a Chinese surrender. Many stolen artworks have made their way to collections in Europe, and occasionally at auction houses.

Over the decades, there have been numerous debates on whether the palace should be rebuilt to its prior splendor. For now, it is kept in this state to remind the country of its humilitation under foreign aggressors during the 19th century.

From the Line 4 metro station of the same name, take exit B and the entrance is a short walk away. After paying a small admission charge, you will start a long walk across the vast premises. Most of the sites of interest are at the eastern part of the park.

Located in the middle of a lake, the original Jianbi Pavilion was built in 1811 while this one seen today is a reconstruction from 1993.

It is a beautiful stroll along the many walkways that meander around the lakes, streams, and trees.

Even though it was just after mid-March, the cherry blossoms were already blooming!

With my ticket, I get admission to several sites. The first one is a small museum with a model of what the palace would have looked like.

It would then be a long walk to the core ruins with a second ticket check.

The Xiyanglou (Western building) area was built during the Qianlong era around 1747 with a number of buildings and fountains with baroque and rococo architecture from Italian, French, and Czech designers.

Yuanyingguan dates from 1783 and included a European clock tower in white marble. In front of it is Dashuifa, or the great fountain, which dates from 1759 and reasonably well preserved.

While there were crowds photographing the front of the ruins, don't forget to go around out back, although that section is just a lot of rubble and you can't really make out the building frame from what's left.