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China - The Middle Kingdom The Summer Palace |
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| The Imperial Cottage - The Summer Palace is also an Imperial garden with 700 acres. A view of Kunming Lake, which is an artificial lake created 800 years ago. | |
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| Autumn Breeze - A bit chilly with the wind blowing off the water. | |
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| Western View - There is an aqueduct and reservoir from the west hills that brings water into the summer palace and lake. | |
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| East Palace Entrance - The Summer Palace was destroyed twice by the French and British in 1860 and 1886. What you see is the reconstruction in 1903. | Dragon and Phoenix - Two classic Chinese icons which represent the Emperor and Empress. |
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| Fancy Building Address - Buildings with 4 cogs along the entrance way indicates that is an Imperial residence of the Emperor. The tile icon is that of the Emperor Dragon. | The Long March - The Long Corridor goes for 777m from the Eastern Halls to the Marble Boat. The ceiling is painted with over 10,000 scenes of China. Local say that if an unmarried couple walks through it by exiting at the end they end up married. I wonder if a married couple walked backwards through it would they emerge divorced? |
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| Inner Court - Freshly repainted and restored to reflect the grandeur of the Qing Dynasty. These pavilions have museum displays of Qing era artifacts. | |
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| The Marble Boat of Purity and Ease - This marble boat actually floats. This Imperial white elephant was commissioned by the Empress Daoziger, instead of investing in a navy the Empress decided to spend a lot of money on this monstrosity. | |
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| 17 Arches Bridge - This bridge links Nanhu Island to the shore. | Lion Statue - Lions are considered guardian symbols. |
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| Big Rocks - Limestone does not make good outdoor sculptures. This sculpture has suffered from years of weather erosion. This is the called the Stone of the God of Longevity. | Yin and Yang - Yin Han in front of the largest rock in the Summer Palace. |
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© 2002-2005 Stanley Yee |
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