At six am the gates of the Summer Palace in Beijing open, and thousands of people rush in to do their daily health improvement exercises. Located in the western suburbs of Beijing, and 15 kilometers away from central Beijing, Summer Palace (formerly the Qingyiyuan), an imperial garden during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), covers an area of 3.009 sq. km, three-quarters of which is water. Inspired by Hangzhou's West Lake, and adopting design features of gardens from the south of China, Summer Palace consists of Longevity Hill and Kunming Lake and is a large landscape garden. It is also the best preserved imperial garden, and is regarded as the "Museum of Imperial Gardens".

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