Spreading out some 15 kilometers away from the city center in the north western suburbs of Beijing, the Summer Palace occupies an area of 290 hectares in total, of which three fourths is covered by a pool of water and the rest the land and hills. 

Being a summer resort of the Qing royal family the Summer Palace is the most intact, the best-preserved and the largest of its kind of the classical gardens in the country. Starting to be built in 1153, the garden underwent many a time reconstruction and renovation in the Yuan and Ming dynasties. And still later a large-scale reconstruction was again done a it in the period of Emperor Qianlong's reign of the Qing Dynasty, renaming it the "Garden of Crystal Ripples" when completed in 1860, it was brought down to ashes by the Anglo-French Allied Army, and being rebuilt in 1886 in the hands of Empress Dowager Cixi by embezzling the funds allocated for the building of the navy, it was again renamed as the "Summer Palace". However, it was destroyed again in 1900 by the Eight Powers Allied Forces and it was rebuilt again in 1903.

Empress Dowager Longyu was forced to promulgate the abdication of the royal power on the 12th of October 1911. However, according to the agreement between the Qing royal family and the republic government, the Summer Palace would still be kept in the hands of the Qing royal family, while yet to be opened to outside as private property by selling admission tickets. 1924 when Puyi was ousted, the Summer Palace was taken over by the republic government and changed to be a public park.

Summer Palace is the summer resort for Qing royal families. The royal family stayed in the Forbidden City in Spring, Autumn and Winter. Thus, the Summer Palace has the same functional quarters as that in the Forbidden City. The office quarter, the living quarter and the entertainment quarter formed the magnificent scenery in Summer Palace.

Going through the East Palace Gate, you will meet the Hall of the Benevolence and Longevity. This is the place for the emperor to handle state affairs and listen to reports by ministers and receive foreign envoys. During the period of Emperor Qianlong's reign, it was called the Hallo of Diligent Administration. Burnt down by the Anglo-French Army in 1860, it was reconstructed in 1890, and was then renamed the "Hall of the Benevolence and Longevity". During the years of Emperors Tongzhi and Guangxu, Emperess Dowager Cixi handled state affairs behind the screen.

The living quarter consists of the Hall of Jade Ripples and the Hall of Happiness and Longevity. The Hall of Jade Ripples used to be the residence for Emperor Guangxu in the Summer Palace. As Emperor Guangxu was put into house arrest here after the failure of the Reform Movement of 1898, it is so to speak an exquisitely decorated jail.

The Hall of Happiness and Longevity, consisting of four rooms, used t be the residence for Empress Dowager Cixi. Every year on the first day of the fourth month in the lunar calendar she moves to the Summer Palace and stays here in the hall, and won't return until the tenth of the tenth lunar month when the celebration of her birthday is over. There are over 1,000 people dancing attendance on the Dowager in the Summer Palace. In the Hall of Happiness and Longevity alone there are 48, of whom 20 are maids-in-waiting, 20 eunuchs of importance and another 8 are the "ladies-in-waiting" by her side, who normally wait in the room behind the precious throne to attend on her.

At the end of the courtyard of the Hall of Happiness and Longevity, it is the starting point of entertainment quarter, the Long Corridor. The Long Corridor measures 728 meters long with more than 14,000 traditional Chinese paintings on the beams and rafters. There are four pavilions along the corridor, representing the four seasons a year. At the end of the Long Corridor, you will find the Marble Boat. Originally it used to have an awing of Chinese style but was burnt down by the Anglo-French Army in 1860. It was later rebuilt into one of a western style in 1893 in imitation of a steam ship with two water-wheelers. In 1903 Empress Dowager Cixi had another storey of wooden structure added onto it and decorated it with colored pieces of glass. The purpose of building this immovable boat was to symbolize that the rule of the Qing regime was stable and consolidated as a large piece of rock, which would stand still forever in the vast ocean and would, under no circumstances whatsoever be wavered or toppled.

Kunming Lake, three fourths of the total area of the Summer Palace, plays vital role in the temperature adjustment in the garden. After a long walking way in the Long Corridor, then taking a dragon boat on the lake make you feel emperor and empress in ancient China.