Western Mansions
Marble ruins.
Gary Todd from Xinzheng, China — CC0 · Gary Todd from Xinzheng, China — CC0 · Gary Todd from Xinzheng, China — CC0 · Gary Todd from Xinzheng, China — CC0 · Gary Todd from Xinzheng, China — CC0 · Leiem — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Tiger@西北 — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Leiem — CC BY-SA 4.0
The ruins of the Old Summer Palace, Yuanmingyuan, the «Garden of Perfect Brightness», in Haidian in north-west Beijing: begun in 1707 under the Kangxi Emperor, it grew into three linked imperial gardens covering more than 3.5 square kilometres, where the Qing emperors lived and handled the affairs of state. In October 1860, during the Second Opium War, British and French troops looted the palace and then burned it. What remains is a vast park of lakes, islands and lotus ponds, and in its north-east the broken marble arches, columns and fountain basins of the Western Mansions, 18th-century palaces in European style that most visitors come to see. Entry is CNY 10, or CNY 25 with the Western Mansions and a model of the gardens as they were; the park is open from 7 am to 9 pm from April to October, last entry 7 pm, and to 7.30 pm in winter, per visitor guides. Lotus fills the lakes in summer, and the Summer Palace is a short ride to the west.
Marble ruins.
In bloom in summer.
The gardens as they were.
Haidian District, north-west Beijing
The Summer Palace, a few kilometres west, is an intact imperial garden, while Yuanmingyuan is the older palace that survives as ruins; many visitors see both in a day.