19/46.- Beijing, Summer Palace

The Summer Palace and its surrounding complex is also known as the 'Garden of Nurtured Harmony'. The area, which was included in 1998 in UNESCO's World Heritage List, is dominated by the Longevity Hill and the Kunming Lake. A visit to this place can take you from half a day to a complete day. The palace is in Western Beijing, 10 miles from the city center. To get here you will have to take a taxi, or take one of the public buses in Qianmen.

The origins of the Summer palace date back to 1150 , to times of the Jin dynasty, when a palace named "Golden Hill Palace" was built in this area. The Kunming Lake was constructed in times of the Mongol Emperor Kublai Khan in order to serve as a reservoir of water from the Western Hills for Beijing.

In 1750, Emperor Qian Long ordered the construction of a garden that reproduced the gardens of all China, he also changed the name of the "Longevity Hill", and ordered the modification of the lake to mirror the layout of the "West Lake" in Hangzhou.

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