Cixi, The Dowager empress took an interest in the
palace at the end of the 19th century. Using embezzled
funds from the Imperial Navy, she restored a marble
boat permanently moored at the lakeside, and rebuilt
the halls beginning in 1888. Unfortunately, most of
the complex was burned to the ground in an unwarranted
display of foreign aggression by Anglo-French forces
reacting to the Boxer Rebellion of 1900.
For nearly fifty years the palace
was rotted, when it was restored soon after the Communist
takeover. Nowadays most of the buildings have been
completely restored, including a pleasant Southern
Chinese shopping area at the north end of the palace,
where once only the Emperors could shop.
To experience the park is to rent
a paddle boat at the lakeside is One of the best way.
There are no restrictions on where you can row, and
it is fun to try to paddle beneath the seventeen-arch
bridge. The current near there is so strong that only
the hardiest paddlers can get through.
The Initial construction of the palace
was began in 1707, during the reign Emperor Kangxi
and was on a much smaller scale. It was intended as
a gift for the emperor's fourth son, later Emperor
Yongzheng. In 1725, under Emperor Yongzheng, the Imperial
Gardens was greatly expanded. Yongzheng introduced
the waterworks of the gardens which created some of
the lakes, streams and ponds which greatly complemented
the rolling hills and grounds. Yongzheng also named
28 scenic spots within the garden.
The Imperial Gardens were made up
of three gardens: the Garden of Perfect Brightness
proper, the Garden of Eternal Spring, and the Elegant
Spring Garden; they covered a huge area of 3.5 km²
(865 acres). They were almost 5 times the size of
the Forbidden City, and 8 times the size of the Vatican
City. They had hundreds of halls, pavilions, temples,
galleries, gardens, lakes, etc. Several famous landscapes
of southern China had been reproduced in the Imperial
Gardens, hundreds of invaluable Chinese art masterpieces
and antiquities were stored in the halls, making the
Imperial Gardens one of the largest museums in the
world. Some unique copies of literary work and compilations
were also stored inside the Imperial Gardens.
The Palace is often associated with
European-style palaces (Xi Yang Lou) built of stone.
The designers of these structures, the Jesuits Giuseppe
Castiglione and Michel Benoist, were employed by Emperor
Qianlong to satisfy his taste for exotic buildings
and objects.
