A visit to the Summer Palace (Yiheyuan Park)
2018-03-09
A few days ago I went to the Summer Palace. After entering the park, we can either go north or south to see the scenery. I used to choose the north route and go through the Long Corridor and by the Stone Boat. This time I wanted to make a change, so I went south to see the 17-Arch Bridge and the West Dam(Xi Di).
A few miles from the gate, there was a very small island. Standing on the island, I saw the Longevity Hill(Wan Shou Shan), and I heard some people singing together.It was sunny that day, but a little chilly. In the Kunming Lake there were half ice and half water. The ice made the lake peaceful while the water brought vitality to it.The breeze and sunshine made the lake very shiny, like wavering silk.
Some miles away, There was the famous 17-Arch Bridge. Every time I saw the bridge I would count the arches to check if the number is 17. Of course it doesn't change! There are hundreds of stone lions on the bridge, and every one has a unique posture.
At last I got to the West Dam. It was a imitation of the dam in the West Lake in Hangzhou. They are several bridges and pavilions built on the West Dam. When I got there, I was a little tired, but I felt that it was worth the long walk when I enjoyed the good view.Since the pavilions were bulit a few meters above the Kunming Lake, we could see the whole lake, the buildings around it and the mountains far away.At that time it was still cold outside.When it's warm, the willow leaves will turn out and the peach trees will blossom, and they will make the West Dam more beautiful.
(The followings are two photos taken in the Summer Palace. One is a photo of the Longevity Hill taken on the small island; the other is a photo of the 17-Arch Bridge taken on the West Dam.)
In the Summer Palace we can see many places built for the Qing Emperors' entertainment, like theatre, pavilion, stone boat, long corridor. The Qing Emperors didn't spend money on economic and military construction, they spent that on the extravagant life , leading the country to be weaker and weaker. Thank you for telling us that part of history! We should remember the history, for it reminds us what we should do to make our motherland strong !
There are quite a number of factors result into the loss. But if China had Yoshino (speed at 22.5 knots) instead of Japan had it, Yellow Sea Battle would have been another story. Most of the warships on China's side were much slower than Japan's, nominal speed was about 15 knots, but actual speed on that day was only 10.5 knots because of poor quality of fuel.
China's loss to Japan and other powers cannot be attributed to that sea battle, much less the Summer Palace or Empress Dowager herself. It is the necessity of the development of history. We should be lucky that up till now we still can see the beatiful garden of the former dynasty. If the money had been spent on the navy, we could have had nothing left.
A very beautiful place! Many thanks to Comrade Yehenara Hinjen (叶赫那拉·杏贞同志) (a.k.a. Empress Dowager Cixi) because the majority of Summer Palace we see today is actually the gift for her 60th birthday while the money for re-constructing Summer Palace was taken from the national defense budget for navy's plan of purchasing order on the warships including a start-of-the-art "protected cruiser" manufactured by Britain's Armstrong Shipbuilding Company (英国阿姆斯特朗公司建造的新锐"穹甲巡洋舰"). At the same time, the wife of Japanese Emperor Meiji donated her jewelries to help funding Japanese Navy's purchasing plan. As a result, Chinese lost the chance of getting that protected cruiser because of embezzlement and corruption. Instead, Japanese successfully got it from British and named it as "Yoshino" (吉野) which later became the decisive factor in Japanese defeating China's Northern Ocean Fleet and winning the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, a nightmare to Chinese nation for over a century because the problem of Taiwan and the problem of Korea would otherwise never be problems.
Oh, come on. That makes my heart longing...One or two photos of yourself or your family would not harm...A little more about the writer will help us better understand the article...As we have to check the background of Shakespeare or Mark Twain for knowing them better.
The beautiful scenery is enough, my friend. Haha, I believe you have seen many photos of "people mountain people sea"of scenery sites.
You're so curious with my trip. I went there to find romance, but with no result. Haha! I went there with my parents.
You seemed to have forgotten to tell us the romance of your trip there. You did not travel alone, did you? Two photos without people included are not enough for us readers, you know.
can't agree more!Thank you for your advice! Although it was sunny that day and there were many people in the park, it was really chilly. When I sat for a while, I felt freezing cold.
Yes, the scenery is really beautiful! I'm happy that my article and photos bring good memory to you. The skating rink opens every winter. My father went there in January and he told me many people went there to skate and play on the ice. This year there was little snow in Beijing and after the Start of Spring, the rink closed because the ice was thin. When I went there after the Spring Festival, half of the ice in the Kunming Lake has melted.
Comment