china is calling

The Summer Palace

This is a beautiful spot with exuberant(茂盛的) wood and grass at the foot of the West Hill in the western outskirts（郊区） of Beijing. From the Ming Dynasty on, many high－taste nobles built their private gardens in this place. In the Qing Dynasty perhaps because the Manchu aristocrats（贵族） who had just left their forests and grassland had not accommodated(适应) themselves to the environment of the palaces, they built great imperial gardens there. The Summer Palace that has survived calamities（灾难） in history is one of those architectural masterpieces. This is a marvellous conception of a paradise（天堂） on the earth:

The Long Corridor and the Seventeen Arch Bridge are like ribbons. They frame the Kunming Lake and turn it into a beautiful picture. With the Buddha Fragrance Chamber on the Longevity Hill as the highlight, the lake and mountains become a lively whole.

The West Hill and the pagoda（塔） on top of the Jade Spring Hill blot out the lim