There weren't many female that appeared in China history. When they did, it always marked a significant historic consequences. The 1st and only one female ruler in China history was more than 1000 years ago - Empress Wu-Ze-Tian. However, she put herself the target of attack for daring enough to crown herself ruler despite the Patriarchal society at that time. Towards the end of Qing's Dynasty, another female empress made her way to the peak of ruling power. She however did not crown herself as ruler, but instead used her young son as a puppet king to deliver her order - Empress Ci-Xi （慈禧太后）.
During her reign, the declining dynasty was further tarnished due to her luxurious life that resulted in foreign invasion and division of concession. The Summer Palace was built by Emperor Qian-Long but burnt down by allied army(八国联军) during their invasion on China. She rebuilt the place after the allied claimed compensation from Qing's government although at that time, Qing's government financial status was rather embarrassing. In simple words, the summer palace was a private theme park for Empress Ci-Xi to spend her time there during the summer.
It was always known that SuZhou has one of the best scenery in the world. In order to enjoy the great scenery of SuZhou, they actually rebuilt SuZhou in this place!!!
Whenever she wanted to visit the SuZhou Street, her servant will dress as owner of all these shops, selling stuffs obtained from SuZhou. She will then "shop" there~ History marked her as an empress who love disguising and role play~
A conceptual building from the book "Journey to the West"(西游记)
The long corridor stretches 728m long.....with drawings on the beam depicting different stories.
Whenever she visited the long corridor, her servants would be telling her stories from all these drawings one by one.
The bankrupt stone. This huge stone was initially bought by a freak who love special stones. However, on his way of transporting it back to his home, due to long journey and the huge size, he finished all of his money and was forced to abandoned it halfway. Many centuries later, Emperor Qian-Long spend a vast amount of fortune before successfully transported it here~ hence the name bankrupt stone(败家石)
This high railing was used for hanging lantern especially at night when Empress Ci-Xi wanted to cruise the lake
This was the lake where she love to cruise at night, always dress up as different role~ Really a cosplay fella~ =P
Her son Emperor Tong-Zhi died at very young age, she then crown her young nephew Emperor Guang-Xu to continue her puppet controlling policy~ However, when Emperor Guang-Xu grown up, he wanted to put an end to his aunt's control and decided to launch a coup to reclaim his rightful throne. However, he failed and then spend the remaining of his days locked up in this yard~
Quite a beautiful yard, but imagine spending 10years in this limited space with no freedom and dignity~
佛香阁(The Buddhist Tower)...another must visit in the summer palace.
From top you can view the whole of the area
Levels and levels of stairs~ Imagine how high was the tower built on~
Finally reach the bottom~
Marble Boat....The name was a misnomer, just a static building which resemble a boat.
Really a very beautiful place...but too big~ very tiring after you attempted to tour the whole area within 1 day~
Ah ha! We went to BeiJing University for a tour.....just for fun~
