Royal Imperial Gardens

During the hot summers of Beijing, the imperial family enjoyed spending time in the summer palace outside of the forbidden city. The UNESCO World Heritage was named one of the best preserved imperial gardens in the world and was rebuild several times due to destruction by military forces during times of war. In the modern times it is hard to imagine that this huge retreat was only built and used by the royal family.
The Summer Palace is divided into several parts with the main building constructs on a hill with a full view on the artificially formed lake. During the week the palace is relatively calm and there are many nice spots to enjoy the calm away from the hectic city life.