Old Summer Palace : Old Odyssey Beijing China

Old Summer Palace Beijing China lies in total ruin, blasted into fragments by the Anglo-French invasion force during the 1860 Opium War.The sprawling compound has an aura of faded glory like the Roman Forum. Its ruined pathways, gutted pavilions, and unruly vegetation fill the place with a "sublime" horror.

History of Old Summer Palace

Old Summer Palace(yuan ming yuan, the Perfection and Brightness Garden) was a palace in Beijing, China.

The palace was destroyed on October 18-19, 1860 by French and British troops during the second Opium War.

Old Summer Palace Beijing China was also ransacked, but was later rebuilt by Empress Dowager Cixi. The Old Summer Palace was never rebuilt.

A partial copy of the palace was built recently in the southern city of Zhuhai, in Guangdong province.

Old Summer Palace Beijing China was first surveyed in the 12th century and had been developed into a network of gardens by the time of Emperor Qianlong's regimen the late 18th century.

Then at his request, Jesuit architects designed structures in a European baroque vocabulary, including the 10,000 Flowers Maze.