One of the finest sights in Beijing without doubt is the Summer Palace (Yiheyuan), to the north-west of the city. Its extensive grounds and buildings served as a summer residence for the royal family especially during the reign and lifetime of Empress Dowager Cixi, although it had been a royal garden long before that. The palace consists of four major areas: court reception, residences, temples and extensive gardens. Three-quarters of the park are covered by water – the Kunming Lake.
Quite special for the Summer Palace is its Long Corridor (Changlang) which runs for about 728m alongside the shore of the Kunming Lake and is richly decorated with paintings of mythical scenes.
Throughout the centuries, the Summer Palace has faced several periods of destruction and restoration, and even now it is constantly under construction to preserve the rich cultural and historical relics that can be found here.
