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.

Initial construction began in 1707, during the reign of Emperor Kangxi and was on a much smaller scale. It was intended as a gift for the emperor’s fourth son, later Emperor Yongzheng. In 1725, under Emperor Yongzheng, the Imperial Gardens were greatly expanded. Yongzheng introduced the waterworks of the gardens which created some of the lakes, streams and ponds which greatly complemented the rolling hills and grounds.

The Imperial Gardens were made up of three gardens: the Garden of Perfect Brightness proper, the Garden of Eternal Spring, and the Elegant Spring Garden; together they covered an area of 3.5 km?? (865 acres).

The Old Summer Palace is often associated with the European-style palaces built of stone. The designers of these structures, the Jesuits Giuseppe Castiglione and Michel Benoist, were employed by Emperor Qianlong to satisfy his taste for exotic buildings and objects. Sometimes, visitors unfamiliar with the former layout of the Old Summer Palace are misled to believe that it consisted primarily of European-style palaces. In fact, the area of the Imperial Gardens at the back of the Eternal Spring garden where the European-style buildings were located was small compared to the overall area of the gardens. More than 95% of the Imperial Gardens were made up of essentially Chinese-style buildings. There were also a few buildings in Tibetan and Mongol styles, reflecting the diversity of the Qing Empire.

Simulated Image

It was a tragedy that YuanMingYuan took so many years to raise to glory but only a few days of wanton destruction in 1860 to obliterate. Such was a painful waste for humanity, this fruit of man???s ingenuity, conceived as a Garden of all Chinese Gardens. Again, in 1900 the allied forces of the Eight Powers invaded Beijing and sacked the remaining buildings in the park. Many priceless artifacts that were plundered made their ways to the museums and private collections in Europe.

  • Ticket: RMB 25 Yuan