The Summer Palace is one of the largest Imperial Gardens in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) and by far the best preserved one in China now. On November 30th 1998, it was listed as a World Cultural Heritage site by UNESCO. The Summer Palace is located in the northwest outskirt of Beijing, about 20 kilometers away from the center of Beijing, the Tiananmen Square. With a total space of 300 hectares, it mainly consists two parts: the Longevity Hill and the Kunming Lake, which occupies one quarter and three quarters of the total area respectively. The Longevity Hill is an extension of the Western Hills. While Kunming Lake used to get water from the springs of Jade Spring Hill, which lies to its west. The Kunming Lake now gets water from Miyun Reservoir, northeast of Beijing, about 102 kilometers away. The peak of the Western Hills and Pagoda on Jade Spring Hill can be seen in the distance, which is a typical technique for garden-building in China, known as “Borrowing Scenery”.
