In 1860, during the Anglo-French War, the Gardens were set on fire. The garden took its current form in 1888, when Empress Dowager Cixi decided to move her administration to the Summer Palace.
In 1900 during the Boxer Rebellion, all of the garden's Halls and Palaces but one were destroyed by the foreign forces. In 1903 Empress Cixi returned to Beijing, and ordered the reconstruction of the site.