Pagoda roofs, looking South over Kunming Lake on the front of Longevity Hill towards Beijing city center. Note smog obscuring view to less than 2km.
Nepalese-built tower, just one in the massive complex of buildings making a Tibeten-style temple named Four Great Regions behind Longvity Hill.
Another incredible example of imperial Feng Shui design. View from a courtyard en route to the Tower of the Fragrance of the Buddha, background.
Fully resplendent of classic imperial architecture based on principles of Feng Shui, this courtyard leads to the Tower of the Fragrance of the Buddha.
Stretching 728m and complete with 14,000 paintings, here is one short section of the Long Corridor, the longest painted gallery in the world.
Wenchang Tower along lake front. One of several monolithic towers just sitting throughout the Palace grounds.
The Great Stage within the Garden of Virtue and Harmony - an opulent venue where Empress Cixi would host performance art shows. Note players in shadows, for scale.
Epic craftsmanship. Solid wood carving of an Immortal, housed in Wenchang Gallery.
Enlarged for detail; close-up of the intricate facade on the building named Realm of Multitudinous Fragrances.
This structure at the apex of Longevity Hill boasts one of the most intricate faces of any building I've ever seen.
Tall bridge over lake. How else do you accommodate the imperial boats?25 May 2009 - So when you think imperial China, one of places where all that popular imagery comes from can be found at the Imperial Summer Palace (Yi He Yuan) in NW Beijing. This park was once the summer retreat of emperors, empresses, their family, guests and dignitaries . This newly renovated space is a serious massive throwback to the magesty of Chinese dynasties of yore - needless to say, even 100 years ago I would never have made it past the gates.
Of all I saw in Beijing, only the Forbidden City matches the Summer Palace in terms of grandeur (2.9km sq compound) and exclusivity for laypeople. It's location at the foot of the mountains circling the city's north half, complete with 2.2km sq artificial lake, shaded trails, and windy fields, makes it much more comfortable place during Beijings 80-degree+ summer days.
Of all I saw in Beijing, only the Forbidden City matches the Summer Palace in terms of grandeur (2.9km sq compound) and exclusivity for laypeople. It's location at the foot of the mountains circling the city's north half, complete with 2.2km sq artificial lake, shaded trails, and windy fields, makes it much more comfortable place during Beijings 80-degree+ summer days.
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