Old Summer Palace

The Old Summer Palace, or Garden of Gardens, 圆明园 in Chinese, was built throughout the 18th and early 19th centuries. It is a complex of palaces and gardens in present-day Haidian District, Beijing, China, and located 8 kilometres northwest of the walls of the former Imperial City section of Beijing.
In Qing Dynasty under the reign ofEmperor Qianlong who was inspired by French and Italian palaces, so he decided to build in rococo style in the gardens. After the construction, it was the main imperial residence for the royal family in summer time. Actually it is recognized widely that the Old Summer Palace is the the pinnacle work of Chinese imperial garden and palace design as an architectural wonder. Therefore it os also reputed as the "Garden of Gardens" in its heyday.
In 1860, during the Second Opium War, as the Anglo-French expedition force relentlessly approached Beijing, the troops burned all the wood structures and did as much damage to the marble facades as they could in the gardens. Since then, plenty of relics were stolen from the gardens to many countries.
There were even mazes in the garden which you can still walk through today, and some sections have been restored.

Opening hours:
7:00am — 7:30pm

Entry:
CNY25