One different art - Summer Palace travel tips and stories. Vacations ideas, cruises spa and resorts

The Summer Palace in northwest suburban Beijing is the largest and most complete imperial garden existing in China. It was firs built in the 12th century as an imperial palace. In its compact 70,000 square m of building space, one finds a variety of palaces, gardens, and other classical-style architectural structures. The garden came into existence early in the 1750s and had once been a summer resort for the emperors. The Marble Boat is at the southwest foot of the hill, and the Long Corridor runs east to west along its southern edge.

Loveggevity Hill, which can be divided into Front Hill and Rear Hill, is about 60 meters high. Kumming Lake, which is man-made, is available for boat rides during much of the year, and ice skates can be performed during the frozen winter months. The Long Corridor is 795 years long and parallels the lake. It is the longest walkway in the Chinese gardens with altogether over 14,000 traditional Chinese paintings on the beams and crossbeams.

The elliptical marble bridge leads the eye to the rocky South island in the middle of the lake, the wooden pavilions dotted sparingly on the gentle hills that adorn the lakeside, the grandiose temples that climb the artificially created Longevity Hill - all these represent a quintessentially Chinese ideal of harmony between man and nature.The Summer Palace is virtually a museum of traditional Chinese gardening that uses rocks, plants, pavilions, ponds, cobble paths and other garden styles to create a poetic effect between different scenes. When you stroll around the Summer Palace, you will constantly find the area changing.

For those who appreciate the beauty of Chinese art, architecture and landscaping, they should take a whole day exploring this 300 hectare park comprising of buildings and corridors topped by a hill (Longevity Hill) and cooled by an artificial lake. The Summer Palace is the archetypal Chinese garden, and is ranked amongst the most noted and classical gardens of the world. In 1998, it was listed as one of the World Heritage Sites by UNESCO.