Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Flag-2) surface-to-air missiles muster below, while upstairs bristles with more weaponry.
For the full-on revolutionary version of China's wars, the Hall of Agrarian Revolutionary
War and the Hall of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea is a tour de force of
communist spin.
At the time of research, the main building was closed as part of a massive three-year
renovation project, but there was still a large collection of tanks, aircraft, artillery and mil-
itary vehicles on view in the forecourt, which was free to enter.
OLD SUMMER PALACE
Located northwest of the city centre, the
Old Summer Palace
( Yuánmíng Yuán; 28 Qinghua Xilu; adult ¥10,
through ticket ¥25, map ¥6; 7am-7pm; Yuanmingyuan) was laid out in the 12th century. The ever-cap-
able Jesuits were later employed by Emperor Qianlong to fashion European-style palaces for the gardens, incor-
porating elaborate fountains and baroque statuary. In 1860, during the Second Opium War, British and French
troops torched and looted the palace, an event forever inscribed in Chinese history books as a low point in Ch-
ina's humiliation by foreign powers. Most of the wooden palace buildings were burned down in the process and
little remains, but the hardier Jesuit-designed European Palace buildings were made of stone, and a melancholic
tangle of broken columns and marble chunks survives. Note: to see these remains, you need to buy the more ex-
pensive through ticket.
The subdued marble ruins of the
Palace Buildings Scenic Area
(Xīyánglóu Jǐngqū) can be mulled over in
the
Eternal Spring Garden
(Chángchūn Yuán) in the northeast of the park, near the east gate. There were once
more than 10 buildings here, designed by Giuseppe Castiglione and Michael Benoist. The buildings were only
partially destroyed during the 1860 Anglo-French looting (
CLICK HERE
)
and the structures apparently remained
usable for quite some time afterwards. However, the ruins were gradually picked over and carted away by local
people all the way up to the 1970s.
The
Great Fountain Ruins
(Dàshuǐfǎ) themselves are considered the best-preserved relics. Built in 1759, the
main building was fronted by a lion-head fountain. Standing opposite is the
Guānshuǐfǎ
, five large stone
screens embellished with European carvings of military flags, armour, swords and guns. The screens were dis-
covered in the grounds of Peking University in the 1970s and later restored to their original positions. Just east
of the Great Fountain Ruins stood a four-pillar archway, chunks of which remain.
West of the Great Fountain Ruins are the vestiges of the
Hǎiyàntáng Reservoir
(Hǎiyàntáng Xùshuǐchí
Táijī), where the water for the impressive fountains was stored in a tower and huge water-lifting devices were
employed. The metal reservoir was commonly called the Tin Sea (Xīhǎi). Also known as the Water Clock, the
Hǎiyàntáng
, where 12 bronze human statues with animal heads jetted water for two hours in a 12-hour se-
