Summer Palace

It was designed eight centuries ago as a hot-season getaway for the royal and twice suffered extensively at the hands of Western troops but it retains its considerable beauty today.

Situated 20km northwest of Beijing, in the cool hills that rise from the plain on which the city humidly sits in the summer, Yiheyuan also witnessed extravagant celebrations that kept the pampered elite from boredom. It was further beautified by the Dwoager Empress Cixi, who almost broke the national treasury creating her personal Xanadu.

Today, with the repair of the damage inflicted in 1860 by the Anglo-Frech troops during the Second Opium War and in 1900 by rioters in the aftermath of the Boxer Rebellion, it retains the residence of the Empress Dwoager, Complete with its Furnishings and her personal effects.

The place is packed to the gunwales in summer with Beijing residents taking full advantage of Kunming Lake which takes up three-quarters of the park. The main building is the lyrically named Hall of Benevolence & Longevity, while along the north shore is the Long Corridor, so named because it's, well, long. There's over 700m (2300ft) of corridor, filled with mythical paintings and scenes. If some of the paintings have a newish patina, that's because many of the murals were painted over during the Cultural Revolution.

Long Corridor (Chang Lang)--This covered wooden promenade runs about half a mile (2,550 feet) along the northern shore of Kunming Lake, from the Eastern Halls to the Marble Boat. Its crossbeams, ceiling roof panels, and pillars are painted with more than 10,000 scenes from Chinese geography, history, literature, and myth, making this a promenade into a picture encyclopedia of China. The paintings are crude but bright, and the Long Corridor is exceptionally charming. Built in 1750 (and rebuilt and restored many times since), the Long Corridor consists of 273 crossbeam sections and four pavilions that lead to cafes, boat docks, or sites on Longevity Hill.

Hall of Benevolent Longevity (Renshou Dian)--Located directly across the courtyard from the East Gate entrance, this hall is where the Empress Dowager Cixi and her nephew (who was appointed emperor, but placed under her protection) received members of the court. Cixi occupied the dragon throne.

Hall of Jade Ripples (Yulan Tang)--This is the lakeside residence of the Empress Dowager's nephew, Emperor Guangxu, where he was kept from the throne, a prisoner of his aunt.

Hall of Happiness and Longevity (Leshou Tang)--This complex on the northeast tip of the lake was the Empress Dowager's private residence. Most of the furniture, the bed curtains, and the glass lamps (China's first electric lamps) are original. The Long Corridor begins here.