Trip to Yiheyuan and Yuanmingyuan

Hi all, this is Bo Jun blogging from Beijing. On Tuesday 18 November, we went to the Summer Palace Yihe Yuan (颐和园) and the 'Old Summer Palace' Yuanming Yuan (圆明园). These Imperial Gardens in China has faced destruction by the British and French troops in 1860, and the Summer Palace was also attacked by the Eight Allied powers (Austria-Hungary, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States) in 1900 during the Boxer Rebellion, an anti-foreign revolution during the late Qing Dynasty.

Buildings of the Yihe Yuan are restored and rebuild, while those in Yuanming Yuan are left mostly in ruins, and the destruction of Yuanming Yuan is regarded as a symbol of foreign aggression and humiliation to China. Below are some of the pictures which I took =)

Yihe Yuan served as the summer resort for Empress Dowager Cixi, and it is composed of two main bodies: Lake Kunming (昆明湖) and Longevity Hill (万寿山). Above is the shot of Lake Kunming in the foreground, and the Longetivity Hill at the back.

This pagoda is Foxiang Ge (佛香阁）, which houses a statue of 千手观音, and it derived its name from the Buddhist incense that is burnt as prayer to the Gods. The pagoda sits on the Longetivity Hill and it is visible from across the lake.

This shot shows Lake Kunming, which is to the south of Foxiang Ge. The island in the lake is Nanhu Dao (南湖岛) and it is linked to the eastern shore of Lake Kunming.

The Seventeen-Arc Bridge, with ducks at the foreground. The bridge is tha largest stone bridge in Yihe Yuan, at it links the land to Nanhu Dao (南湖岛). The bridge is 150m long and 8m wide.

The Iron Ox (铜牛) sits on the Eastern shore of Lake Kunming, and it is said to prevent floods. The bull us said to be in the direction of the Forbidden City, protecting the Forbidden City from the Lake's floods.

This is Renshou Dian (仁寿殿), the 'office' of Empress Dowager Cixi, the place where the Empress listened to state affairs behind the curtains -- 垂帘听政. The Empress was the de facto ruler of China during the Qing Dynasty, though indirectly, as she exercised control over the nation through the emperors Tongzhi (同治) and Quangxu (光绪). There are 4 statues in front of Renshou Dian-- 2 phoenixes and 2 dragons. The phoenixes are closer to the center of the building's central axis, while the dragon statues are further. This was a deliberate attempt of Cixi to show that she is more powerful than the true emperors.

This is the Marble Boat (石舫) to the west of Longetivity Hill. It was restored in 1893 in order of Empress Dowager Cixi after the pavillion was destroyed by the Anglo-French forces. This is the only structure in Yihe Yuan to have European-style design incorporated into its architecture.

According to Wikipedia, the Marble Boat is often seen as an ironic commentary on the fact that the money used to restore the Summer Palace largely came from funds originally earmarked for building up a new imperial navy.

Lastly, before we left, we went to Suzhou Jie (苏州街). It is a waterway with shops on each side, selling items at relatively cheap price, though the shopkeepers offered to sell the items at almost half of the labelled price. There are souvenior shops as well as restaurants here.

The trip to Yihe Yuan was special to me, as I met my parents here on an unscheduled meeting. They are following a tour in China, before meeting me and my brother at the dormitory. The coincidental meet was not only a 'family reunion', but a fated encounter where we got ourselves a free tour guide =D

Next, after a scrumptious lunch, we headed over to Yuanming Yuan. Yuanming Yuan was where the Qing Dynasty Emporers resided in and handled government affairs. We went to 西洋公园, which is a place in the former Imperial Garden which houses buildings of Western Architecture, which are now sadly in ruins, after the Anglo-French army burning it down to the ground after ransacking the place of its valuables.

This is the first sight of the ruins which greeted us. The ruins shown used to be a fountain where the royals would watch the waterworks. There was a throne opposite to this fountain, where the Emperor would sit and view the display of the fountain.

This is another fountain in the Imperial Garden which used to have 12 statues of the 12 生肖 shooting out jets of water each 2 hours. Therefore this was also used as a clock. It was one of the largest European-style building in Yuanming Yuan.

This is the maze (万花阵), where during the Moon Festival, the Emperor will be present in the celebration of the festival.

This is Fang Wai Guan (方外观). These ruins used to be a mosque where the imperial concubine Rong(容妃), or the Fragrant concubine (香妃), attend religious services.

This poor lion statue was destroyed by the Anglo-French forces


That's basically a sum of our trip to Yihe Yuan and Yuanmin Yuan. *Cheers!!