(英文)颐和园导游词1-2

The Summer Palace (1)

The Summer Palace is located on the northwest outskirts of Beijing, about 20 kilometers away from the center of the city. It is the best-preserved imperial garden in the world and one of the largest of its kind in China.

The Summer Palace mainly consists of the Longevity Hill and Kunming Lake. It covers an area of over 290 hectares. The Longevity Hill covers an area about 70 hectares, while Kunming Lake is about 220 hectares. The peaks of the Western Hill and the pagoda on the Jade Spring Hill can be seen in the distance. This is a typical method in garden-building, known as “borrowing the scenery from a distance”.

In 1961, the Summer Palace was listed as one of the important historical monuments under special preservation by the Chinese Government. And in 1998, it was listed as the world cultural heritage by UNESCO. This garden is famous in the world not only for its man-made architecture, but also for its scenic beauty of nature.

Now let me tell you something about its history. The Summer Palace has a history of over 800 years. In the Jin Dynasty, there was a small hill here. It was called Golden Hill, the Lake was called Golden Water Pond. In the Yuan Dynasty, the name of the hill was changed to the Jar Hill, because it was said that an old man had dug up a jar from the hill. And then the lake was called Jar Hill Pond. In the early Ming Dynasty, it was called West Lake. Later, Emperor Hongzhi, the 9th emperor of the Ming Dynasty, built Yuanjing Temple on the Jar Hill. Next year, the 10th Ming Emperor Zhengde changed the name of this area as the Wonderful Imperial Garden. During the Qing Emperor Qianlong’s reign, the famous “Three Hills and Five Gardens” were built or enlarged in the northwestern Beijing. The Summer Palace was one of them. It was called the Garden of Clear Ripples. In 1750, in order to celebrate his mother’s 60th birthday, Emperor Qianlong ordered to have the Garden of Clear Ripples rebuilt. So Yuanjing Temple was taken down and then the Temple of Paying Great Gratitude for Longevity was built on the hill. Next year, Emperor Qianlong changed the name of the Jar Hill to Longevity Hill for his mother’s 60th birthday. And the lake was expanded, and it was renamed Kunming Lake, because Emperor Qianlong wanted to follow the example of Emperor Hanwu di who had trained his navy in kunming pool in changan.

The whole construction project took 15 years to finish. And it was almost the most beautiful garden in the world. But unfortunately, in 1860, the Anglo-French Allied Forces invad ed Beijing, the “Three Hills and Five Gardens” were burnt down. In 1888,Empress Dowager Cixi ordered to rebuild the Garden of Clear Ripples and changed its name to the Summer Palace. In 1900, the Allied Forces of Eight Powers invaded Beijing, the Summer Palace was once again severely damaged. When Empress Dowager Cixi returned to Beijing, she immediately ordered the garden rebuilt. The Summer Palace today is more or less the same as the one rebuilt in 1903. After the Qing dynasty was overthrown, this imperial garden was turned into a public park, and in 1928, it was officially opened to the public.

Let’s start our visit from the East Palace Gate, which is the main entrance to the Summer Palace. The stone slab placed in the middle gateway was moved from Yuanmingyuan. The plaque above the middle gate is inscribed with 3 Chinese characters “The Summer Palace” in Emperor Guangxu’s handwriting. And there are two bronze lions on either side of the gate.

Entering the East Palace Gate, we will see the Gate of Benev olence and Longevity. It’s the 2nd gate in the palace area. Inside the gate, there is a three-meter-high giant rock. This rock was from Taihu Lake in Wuxi City, Jiangsu Province. So it was called Taihu Rock. The bronze mythical animal behind the Taihu Rock is known as Bronze Qilin. It was believed to be one of