The summer palace was built in the 12th century but it was during the Franco-British Opium War of 1860 severely damaged. In 1888 it was again completely built, the new summer palace. It lies in a vast park in the northwestern suburbs of Beijing. It is the largest and best preserved imperial garden in China. In the summer, stayed there the emperor and his court to the heat in the forbidden city to escape. The park contains many palaces, temples, pavilions, gardens and ponds. You can easily spend one day.
The summer palace includes the Longevity Hill and the Kunming lake and has a total size of 290 hectares. The earth that was dredged the lake is used to make Longevity Hill.
Actually there are two summer palaces, the above new summer palace and the old summer palace. From the old palace is left a little.