The Summer Palace

It seems like every big empire had one of these, though not even Catherine Palace outside of St. Petersburg compares to the Chinese version, at least not in terms of sheer size. This aerial shot is from Google Earth, and is equivalent to looking straight down from 12,500 feet. Note how the palace grounds are still huge.


The red line represents our seven-hour route through the park, and the numbers represent important stops along the way (at least, the ones I have good pictures of). Number one is The Great Stage, the largest ever constructed for classical Chinese opera. Number two is the ascent up Longevity Hill, three is the Realm of Multitudinous Fragrance, and four is Suzhou Street, constructed to resemble lands in southern China. Five is the Marble Boat (I'll explain later), six the Long Corridor, seven the Tower of the Fragrance of Buddha, and 8 the Seventeen-arch Bridge.

Sam and I both have to confess to not having known about this place prior to our visit, at least as opposed to the Forbidden City and Great Wall. Our lack of foreknowledge however, kept the entire day very interesting. I have a lot of pictures to share, so I'll let them do most of the talking for now. This first set is from our first stop, the Great Stage.




Unlike the opera stage at the Forbidden City, this one is still in service. When we arrived, a small group was playing traditional instruments (top picture). They were followed by a group of female dancers (middle), and very acrobatic monkeys (bottom). After the performances we started heading up Longevity Hill.




I think these are self-explanatory. Take that sign in photo one seriously, because shortly after it is a steep grade to which photo two does not do justice. Number three shows a defensive wall-type structure near the top. After cresting the hill we stumbled into the area of the Four Great Regions, and the Region of Multitudinous Fragrance. The Four Great Regions had temples representing various parts of the empire, and the largest temple complex was in the Tibetan style.






I found this area very impresive. The style of the Tibetan buildings made me want to run straight over to Beijing West Station and fork over 800 yuan for the three day ride to Lhasa. When we had explored to our hearts content, we headed down the hill to Suzhou Street.



Suzhou is a southern city, at the time very much based on canal transpotation (it was also open to the west, a rarity). The area was very much a favorite of the Emperors, and in particular Qinglong, who had this place built. It was like a proto-Disneyland attraction. From the street we headed around the back side of Longevity Hill to the Marble Boat.


A boat made of solid marble seemed a little confusing for the two of us, so Johnsson explained. There is an old Chinese saying, along the lines of "As water floats a boat, so do the people carry the Emperor. But as rough seas can capsize any vessel, so can a malcontented populace displace the ruler." The Qinglong Emperor, eager to prove he could never be overthrown, constructed the boat to symbolize a leader that could not be "tipped over." After the boat, we walked through the Long Corridor.


It was long, and it was also around 1 by the time we got here, so we had some nice spicy noodles at about the halfway mark. We left the corridor at the Hall of Dispelling Clouds, and walked through it and up to the Tower of the Fragrence of Buddha.




From top to bottom, the Hall of Dispersing Clouds with the tower in the background, a colorful stairway, and a panorama of the Hall and lake taken from the top. After making it to the tower, we foolishly decided to try to make a circuit around the lake.



Above is a view back at the hill and tower from the shoreline near the Grand Stage. Below, the Seventeen-Arch Bridge (the last numbered entry on the map above) links South Lake Island with the mainland. The island was originally part of the mainland itself, but was severed in the 18th century by an expansion of the lake. The temples on the island were ordered preserved, however, so this bridge (with over 500 carved lions) was built. After visiting the island, we followed the shoreline south and then up the Great Causeway, before diverting over to the West Exit when we decided we could continue no longer. I'd offer more photos, but my camera rose up in protest along with my feet and stopped working after the bridge.

Despite our exhaustion the whole day was just an amazing, pleasant surprise for us. What really set the Summer Palace apart, in my opinion, was the wide variety of the scenery and architecture. I took hundreds of pictures at the Forbidden City and Great Wall as well, but those do tend to blur together after awhile. I had no such problem here. If anyone's interested in knowing more about the palace (though perhaps I ascribe my own lack of knowledge to others) please do go read Wikipedia's entry. It's brief, but it discusses how French and British forces destroyed the grounds during the Opium Wars (still a sore spot with the Chinese) and some good external links.

Phew. This entry is phenominally long. Within the next few days I'll try to finish up, with tales of the Great Wall, Jingsong's new house, and more delicious, delicious food.