Summer Palace

The Summer Palace is a vast ensemble of lakes, gardens and palaces in Beijing. It was an imperial garden in the Qing dynasty. Mainly dominated by Longevity Hill and Kunming Lake, it covers an expanse of 2.9 square kilometers, three-quarters of which is water.

In December 1998, UNESCO included the Summer Palace on its World Heritage List. It declared the Summer Palace 'a masterpiece of Chinese landscape garden design. The natural landscape of hills and open water is combined with artificial features such as pavilions, halls, palaces, temples and bridges to form a harmonious ensemble of outstanding aesthetic value.'

The Long Corridor is a covered walkway 728 meters long, famous for its 14,000 paintings of landscapes, scenery and episodes from Chinese classical literature. Kunming Lake, the central lake, was created by expanding an existing natural lake and is fed by natural springs.