Summer Palace, Beijing

At the front of the hill there are lots of traditional Chinese buildings, from the foot to the top. The rear of the hill with fewer buildings is more famous for its charming natural scenery.

Pavilion of Forgotten Desires and Accompanying Clouds.

Originally built during Emperor Qianlong's reign (1736-1795), this was a hall walls under a traditional roof. Burned down in 1860 by the Anglo-Frnech Allies Forces. and was restored during Emperor Guangzu's reigh (1875-1908). IT got its name from a poem entitled the Pavilion on the River by Du Fu, a great poet of the Tang Dynasty. According to the poem: "the water flows fast but the mind is at rest, clouds are there but desires are forgotten"

Longevity Hill, standing beside Kunming Lake and is part of the Yanshan Mountains, with a height of 193 ft. high

Going up the hill...

The view is really nice when you go up.

This area is called the Wonderland which covers the west part of the Longevity hill with great panoramic view.

Another hall in the area.

More steps up the hill...

We are now at the top of the hill facing the lake. There are a lot of eye-catching colorful buildings in this area.

This area is called the Four great Regions (Tibetan Style temple).

View from the top of the Longevity hill.

Rampart on top of the hill

Hall of the Sea of Wisdom is a two decked religious building first built in 1750 during the reign of Emperor Qianlong (1711-1799). It imitated the wooden architecture’s appearance, but was made of brick and stone without a single beam to support the weight of the hall. Without any timber beams, and was also known as "No Beam Hall".

Splendid archway with yellow glazed titles based on a marble pedestal. The gateway is called the Realm of Multitudinous Fragrance (Zhong Xiang Jie), a name for a Buddhist kingdom.

This building is always eye-catching for shining glazed bricks all around it. Not only the roof but also the walls were stuck on colorful glazed titles and bricks, in yellow and green with purple and blue strips. There are several real and virtual arch gates made of marble gate on façade and the back of the hall.

Exquisite glazed Buddha statues in rows were inlaid on the wall around the arch gates. A total of 1,008 of these statues are the highlight making this building especially unique.

This is a holy building, with its name "the Sea of Wisdom" which comes from the sutra, symbolizing the mighty force and the infinite wisdom of Tathagata Buddha.

Too bad is was a cloudy day but the view up on the Longevity hill is still beautiful.

Rest area with great panoramic views.

We are now leaving the area.

There are so many people area and our tour guide had to climb up these rocks to see where we should go next...

We are now going down through a rock gate

Rock gate leading to the lower part of the hill

We are headed to the Four Great Regions.

Four Great Regions is a complex of classical Tibetan Buddhist buildings and currently the largest in Beijing. It was once a part of Houda Temple (also known as Sumeru Temple) which was the core structure in the axis on the northern or rear slope of Longevity Hill.

Walk way with a view of the Houda Temple and the Puning Temple (far end).

Panoramic view of the area.

Houda temple is a Buddhist temples with a mix of both Han and Tibetan style buildings, which were built almost simultaneously during the reign of Emperor Qianlong (1736-1795).

Large terrace in front of the Houda Temple

There are four Buddhist buildings surrounding the central hall symbolize the four regions.

The one in the south was rebuilt and changed to become the temple gate when Emperor Guangxu reconstructed the Summer Palace. They have different appearances and each Buddhist building has two smaller rectangular or hexagonal structures nearby together with a lama pagoda.

The eight structures refer to the Eight Lesser Regions and four pagodas in red, white, black and green colors symbolize the ‘four wisdoms’ in sutra. There are two altars, called the Sun Alter and the Moon Altar, between the ‘four regions’ and ‘eight lesser regions’, giving an impression that the Buddha is surrounded by the moon and the sun

The paths beside the lake under shady trees, or along the roofed colonnade known as the Long Corridor, with its magnificently painted ceilings. Bridges, boats, willows, lotus flowers, and other attractive landscaping make this a pleasant place to soak up the atmosphere and lovely views. Facing Kunming Lake, it's 2,388 feet long. In 1992, it was recognized as the longest corridor in the world and listed in "The Book of Guinness World Records".

On top of the hill is the Tower of Buddhist Incense

The Tower of Buddhist Incense is the main building of the Summer Palace complex, built halfway up the front of Longevity Hill. Empress Dowager Cixi went there every month to worship Buddha.

In 1989, the Tower of Buddhist Incense was opened to the public, and underwent reconstruction in 2006.

Walkway next to the lake

Boats on the Lake Kunming

The sun is trying to come out against the clouds.

The lake is really serene and beautiful.

We are going to get on a boat to cross it to the other side of the lake.

This is the boat we will be taking.

These ladies are part of the minority people in China and it their village they do not see a lot of Caucasians so they wanted a phot o with them.

The Marble boat

The Marble Boat, at the northern edge of the lake, is a decorative building that imitates a real boat. Erected in 1755, it is the only Western-style structure in the park, inlaid with colorful glass windows and wheels, and paved with colored bricks