Yuanmingyuan, the royal garden that was destroyed by the British and French forces, I always thought that I should see a pile of burnt debris, but it didn’t.
Yuanmingyuan is just like an normal park for people to walk. There are not many garden views, but there are many lakes and stone bridges, which is a bit like the West Lake in Hangzhou. Some stone bridges were destroyed in old time, and they still maintain the appearance as in that year.
The Yuanmingyuan in winter is a bit depressed. The dry trees match the old houses, and it feels desolate! The houses has not been renovated like the Forbidden City. The pillars have become dark red after years of wind and sun, and they have lost their bright appearance.
The Dashuifa was the most damaged. The huge stone was broken into pieces, and now it can only be imagined from the few pillars and a pile of stones.
It is said that the Dashuifa used to be a large fountain, surrounded by the beast heads of the zodiac. The zodiac signs represent the twelve hours of the day. Every day(before destroyed), water would be sprayed one by one on the center of the pool in time. At twelve noon, the zodiac signs would be simultaneously sprayed ,the scene was very spectacular.
The Summer Palace is next to the Yuanmingyuan, which also subverted my perception. I thought that the Summer Palace is a royal garden, so it should look like a Chinese garden. At least there should be some living rooms for emperors, concubines, and queen mothers, right? However, what I saw was a place like a temple. Almost every building is a place to worship Buddha. Do I have a misunderstanding about the royal gardens?
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This is Suzhou Street. The emperor was busy with political affairs all day long. He went to Jiangnan flawlessly. Then built a Suzhou Street in his royal garden to travel at any time! There is ice on the river in winter, and visitors can skate on the ice, which looks like very fun.
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