Inge Johnsson Photography

Oriental Ceiling

The Summer Palace (Chinese: 頤和園), is a vast ensemble of lakes, gardens and palaces in Beijing. It was an imperial garden in the Qing Dynasty. Mainly dominated by Longevity Hill (万寿山; 萬壽山) and Kunming Lake, it covers an expanse of 2.9 square kilometres, three-quarters of which is water.

Longevity Hill is about 60 m high and has many buildings positioned in sequence. The front hill is rich with splendid halls and pavilions, while the back hill, in sharp contrast, is quiet with natural beauty. The central Kunming Lake, covering 2.2 square kilometres, was entirely man-made and the excavated soil was used to build Longevity Hill.

In December 1998, UNESCO included the Summer Palace on its World Heritage List. It declared the Summer Palace "a masterpiece of Chinese landscape garden design. The natural landscape of hills and open water is combined with artificial features such as pavilions, halls, palaces, temples and bridges to form a harmonious ensemble of outstanding aesthetic value".

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Copyright: Copyright for these photos belongs solely to Inge Johnsson. Images may not be copied, downloaded, or used in any way without the expressed, written permission of the photographer.
Image Size: 4317x6475 / 4.8MB; Asia Asian Beijing China Chinese Emperor Inge Johnsson Ming Qing Summer Palace UNESCO World Heritage Site ancient architectural architecture art beam beams building buildings capital ceiling city color colorful colors colour colourful colours cultural culture dynasties dynasty emperors empire imperial landscape nature octagon oriental palace pattern patterns place ray tourism tourist travel trip wooden
Contained in galleries: China

The Summer Palace (Chinese: 頤和園), is a vast ensemble of lakes, gardens and palaces in Beijing. It was an imperial garden in the Qing Dynasty. Mainly dominated by Longevity Hill (万寿山; 萬壽山) and Kunming Lake, it covers an expanse of 2.9 square kilometres, three-quarters of which is water.<br />
<br />
Longevity Hill is about 60 m high and has many buildings positioned in sequence. The front hill is rich with splendid halls and pavilions, while the back hill, in sharp contrast, is quiet with natural beauty. The central Kunming Lake, covering 2.2 square kilometres, was entirely man-made and the excavated soil was used to build Longevity Hill.<br />
<br />
In December 1998, UNESCO included the Summer Palace on its World Heritage List. It declared the Summer Palace "a masterpiece of Chinese landscape garden design. The natural landscape of hills and open water is combined with artificial features such as pavilions, halls, palaces, temples and bridges to form a harmonious ensemble of outstanding aesthetic value".