The Fragrant Hills Park, about 30 kilometres northwest of Beijing, is one of the most favorable resorts in the city’s outskirts. It covers an area of 160 hectares. In 1186, in the Jin Dynasty, the Fragrant Hills Temple was built and terraces, pavilions and pagodas were added by the subsequent dynasties.
The Summer Palace landscape, dominated by Longevity Hill and Kunming Lake, covers an area of 2.9 square kilometers, three quarters of which is water surface. Its 70,000 square meters of building space features a variety of palaces, garden and other ancient-style architectural structures. Well known for its large and priceless collection of cultural artifacts, it was among the first group of historical and cultural heritage sites in China to be placed under special state protection.
The Summer Palace, originally named Qingyi Yuan or the Garden of Clear Ripples, was first constructed in 1750. The Anglo-French Allied Forces destroyed it in 1860. The Government of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) started to rebuild it in 1886 with funds misappropriated from the Imperial Navy and other sources. Renamed two years later as Yihe Yuan or the Garden of Health and Harmony, it served as a summer resort for the Empress Dowager Cixi. Known also as the Summer Palace, it was ravaged by the Eight Power Allied Forces in 1900. The damage was repaired in 1902.
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Just northeast of Summer Palace is the Ruins of Yuanmingyuan (the Perfection and Brightness Garden). It was also called the Old Summer Palace by Western tourists, and is distinguished from the Summer Palace in this way. With an area of 346 hectares, it had been built into the largest and most magnificent garden during the reign of Emperor Qianlong in the Qing period.
