On Thursday we toured the Summer Palace. Centuries of Chinese emperors and empresses used the Palace as a second home to escape the sweltering heat inside the royal Forbidden City grounds. Emperor Qinglang greatly enlarged the Palace grounds during the 18th century.
It's an amazingly large complex consisting of several lakes, gardens, dozens of housing and government buildings, temples and forest pathways. The entrance features the Hall of Benevolence and Longevity and a number of stone and bronze sculptures dedicated to the Chinese belief that emperors who ruled with benevolence for their subjects would last much longer than those who ruled with an iron fist. Kunming Lake was once used to train the Chinese navy during the Qing Dynasty, but today hosts dragon boat rides full of tourists visiting one of several islands.
Perhaps the most stunning spot is high atop the Hill of Longevity at the Tower of Buddhist Incense, an area of the Palace that looks out over the main Palace grounds and lake below. The Buddhist and Taoist temple was only recently renovated and opened to visitors during the 2008 Olympics.
Another interesting feature is a large marble boat constructed by Empress Dowager Cixi during the 1800's who used funds earmarked for a modern navy to build the structure but failed to follow-though on the rest of the navy.
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