Global InformationSummer Palace information
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| UNESCO World Heritage Site | |
|---|---|
 The Summer Palace in Beijing | |
| Location | Haidian District, Beijing, China |
| Criteria | Cultural: i, ii, iii |
| Reference | 880 |
| Inscription | 12930129308129048091274091274912 (1.2930129308129E+31st Session) |
| Area | 297 ha |
| Buffer zone | 5,545 ha |
| Coordinates | 39°59′51.00″N 116°16′8.04″E / 39.9975000°N 116.2689000°E |
  Location of the Summer Palace Summer Palace (Beijing) | |
| Summer Palace | |||||||||||||||
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 "Summer Palace" in Simplified (top) and Traditional (bottom) Chinese characters | |||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 颐和园 | ||||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 頤和園 | ||||||||||||||
| Literal meaning | Garden of Preserving Harmony | ||||||||||||||
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The Summer Palace (simplified Chinese: 颐和园; traditional Chinese: 頤和園; pinyin: Yíhéyuán) is a vast ensemble of lakes, gardens and palaces in Beijing. It was an imperial garden in the Qing dynasty. Inside includes Longevity Hill (万寿山; 萬壽山; Wànshòu Shān) Kunming Lake and Seventeen Hole Bridge. It covers an expanse of 2.9 square kilometres (1.1 sq mi), three-quarters of which is water.
Longevity Hill is about 60 metres (200 ft) 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 (540 acres), was entirely man-made and the excavated soil was used to build Longevity Hill.
Inspired by the gardens in South China, the Summer Palace, there are over 3,000 various Chinese ancient buildings that house a collection of over 40,000 kinds of valuable historical relics from each dynasty.
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".
Notably in Chinese history, it is also the Central Route terminus of the South-North Water Transfer Project having traversed 1,267 km (787 mi) from Danjiangkou Reservoir, Hubei, making it Beijing's main water supply.