The Old Summer Palace is located in Haidian, a western suburb of Beijing, close to the Summer Palace.

It was built in the 46th year of Kangxi (1707) and consists of three gardens: Yuanming Garden, Changchun Garden and Qichun Garden.

It covers an area of ??350 hectares (more than 5,200 acres), of which the water surface area is about 140 hectares (2,100 acres). It has more than 100 garden scenery and a construction area of ??more than 160,000 square meters. It is a large-scale royal palace built and operated by the emperors of the Qing Dynasty for more than 150 years.

Palace garden.

It inherits the excellent gardening tradition of more than 3,000 years in China. It has the grace and splendor of palace architecture and the euphemism and variety of gardens in Jiangnan water towns. At the same time, it also absorbs European garden architectural forms and integrates different styles of garden architecture.

As a whole, the overall layout makes people feel harmonious and perfect.

It can be said: "Although it is made by humans, it is like it was created by heaven."

The Old Summer Palace is not only famous for its gardens, but also a royal museum with a rich collection.

The great French writer Hugo once said: "Even if all the treasures of Notre Dame Cathedral in our country are added together, they cannot compare with this large-scale and magnificent Oriental Museum."

Each hall in the park is decorated with countless rosewood furniture and displays many rare cultural relics at home and abroad.

Wenyuan Pavilion in the garden is one of the four largest royal libraries in the country.

There are precious books and cultural relics such as "Sikuquanshu", "Collection of Ancient and Modern Books" and "Sikuquanshu" collected throughout the garden.

The Old Summer Palace was once world-renowned for its grand geographical scale, outstanding construction techniques, exquisite architectural scenery, rich cultural collections and profound national cultural connotations. It was known as "the model of all gardening arts" and "ten thousand

Garden of gardens.”

Unfortunately, this world-famous garden was brutally looted and burned by the British and French forces in October 1860. After that, it experienced countless destructions and plunders, and this famous garden eventually fell into ruins.

After the baptism of blood and fire, the Old Summer Palace is like an annals of modern Chinese history, with shocking value.

Standing in front of the remaining stones and pillars of the Western-style building, people seem to hear the cry of history.

After the founding of New China, how to actively rescue, properly protect, scientifically renovate and effectively utilize the Old Summer Palace site, a precious historical and cultural heritage of the Chinese nation, and give full play to its significant political, historical and garden value and patriotic education function has always been our question.

It is an issue of great concern to the party, governments at all levels, all sectors of society and the general public.

With the care and support of governments at all levels, and after years of hard work, all land use rights originally belonging to the Three Yuanming Gardens have been recovered, and all residents and most of the units in the gardens have been relocated.

In 2000, the "Old Summer Palace Master Plan" was officially approved by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, and the "Old Summer Palace Site Protection Special Plan" is under review and approval.

On January 5, 1988, the Old Summer Palace site was announced as a national cultural relic protection unit.

In the same year, the heritage park was opened on a trial basis.

After years of unremitting efforts by governments at all levels, the protection and renovation of the site has achieved results. Currently, three major scenic spots have been initially formed: Fuhai, Changchun Garden and Qichun Garden. They include the vast Fuhai, friendly lakes, and landscapes.

The surrounding rivers and streams maintain the natural charm of the water body; according to the original plant configuration, a plant landscape with the theme of pine, bamboo, lotus and willow is formed.

It is currently a first-class and second-class park assessed by the Municipal Garden Bureau, and has been rated as a civilized tourist attraction in Beijing by the Capital Comprehensive Renovation Committee.

The "Outing Festival" in spring, the "Lotus Festival" in summer, the "Chrysanthemum Festival" in autumn, and the garden party in winter form a series of tourism and cultural activities in four seasons.

In the past two years, the comprehensive archaeological excavation and site protection project of the Hanjingtang site and the first phase of the renovation project of Zhengjue Temple, the only remaining ancient building in the Old Summer Palace, have been completed.

The first phase of the environmental improvement project has achieved initial success, with the preliminary completion of the pilot protection of the Qingyan Scenic Area in Western Jiuzhou, the environmental improvement of the Gongmen District of Qichun Garden, the newly renovated lotus area of ??Changchun Garden, and the planting of more than 20 species of high-quality lotus.

A series of piano, chess, calligraphy and painting programs embodying the lotus culture of the Old Summer Palace, as well as the "Happy Lotus Banquet" exquisite lotus delicacies.

The Old Summer Palace has once again become the focus of attention from all walks of life.

The former royal gardens have now become a place of recreation for the people and a rare base for patriotism education.

It has been named "National Primary and Secondary School Patriotic Education Base" by six ministries and commissions including the State Education Commission; announced by the Propaganda Department of the CPC Central Committee as "National Hundreds of Patriotic Education Demonstration Bases"; and named "Beijing National Defense Education Base" by the Beijing National Defense Education Commission Office

base".