Visiting the Summer Palace is an exotic walk in imperial China through a majestic park away from the bustle of the city. One can easily imagine the Empress Cixi strolling in the garden, followed by her court, plotting to retain power.
The palace was partly looted and destroyed in 1860, and the Chinese miss no opportunity in reminding foreign visitors of the mischief committed by the Franco-British armies. This happened again during the Boxer Rebellion in the early 20th century. But Cixi invested huge funds in the reconstruction of the imperial domain. The palace consists of pavilions and shaded galleries deployed around the huge Lake Kunming, where you can go boating if the season is right. Go see the famous marble boat, a symbol of the Qing dynasty, which believed it would be eternal. Thirty-six metres long with a stone hull, it outlasted the Qing. It continues to endure, unchanging and eternal, to the delight of all visitors.
