now we are approaching the central part of the structures on the lakeside slope, the tower of buddhist incense within the hall of dispelling clouds. the hall of dispelling clouds was where numerous palatines kowtowed to empress dowager cixi. it was surrounded by galleries and flanked by annex halls. in the forecourt there is a pool and marble bridges . starting from the lakeside, there lies in succession a memorial archway, the gate of dispelling clouds, the hall of dispelling clouds and the tower of buddhist incense. all of these structures are built on a central axis and each is taller than its predecessor. this was designed to give prominence to the last structure, the tower of buddhist incense, which was a symbol of imperial power. the layout of this group of architectures was based on scenes described in buddhist sutras. this group of structure are among the most magnificently constructed here in the summer palace. (inside the hall of dispelling clouds) the original buildings on this site were burned down by the anglo-french allied forces in 1860. a new set of structures was built during the reign of emperor guanxu, and was called the hall of dispelling clouds, suggesting that it was a fairyland. the hall was built on a high terrace, and has 21 room. inside the hall are a throne, screens, tripods and mandarin fans. on a platform you will see bronze dragons, phoenixes and tripods. at the foot of the platform there are four bronze water vats, the ancient form of fire extinguishers. the 10th day of lunar october was ,empress dowager cixi` s birthday. on that day ,she sat on the throne here to receive congratulations and gifts.
now we are going to pay a visit to the highlight of the summer palace- the tower of buddhist incense. what we are now standing on is a stone terrace which is 20 meters in height. it has a semi housed stairway of 100 steps, you will live for 100 years. so, let` s go ! (in the front of the tower of buddhist incense) an octagonal structure with three storeys and quadruple eaves, the tower of buddhist incense is the very center of the summer palace, and is one of the masterpieces of ancient chinese architecture. the tower is 41 meters in height, and is buttressed by 8 solid pillars made of lignumvitae logs. with its complex structure, ingenious layout, towering terrace and convincing grandeur, the tower of buddhist incense was artfully set out by the imperial gardens and beautiful scenery surrounding it .the tower overlooks kunming lake and other picturesque spots within an area of tens of kilometers .on the west side of the tower stands baoyunge (precious cloud pavilion). it is made of bronze and is7.5 meters in height and 270 tons in weight. it resembles its wooden counterparts in every detail. it is one of the largest and most exquisite bronze pavilions still on existence in china. lamas prayed here during the reign of emperor qianlong in honor of the monarchs and their families. at the turn of the century 10 bronze windows were spirited abroad. in 1992 an american company bought the windows and returned them intact to china. (on a hilltop leading from the back door of tower of buddhist incense) now we can see the long and snaking western causeway and a shorter dike that divides kunming lake into three areas that contain south lake island, seaweed-viewing island and circle city island. the three island represent three mountain in ancient chinese mythology, i. e. penglai, fangzhang and yingzhou. this peculiar method of incorporating a lake a three mountains within a single garden was a brainchild of emperor wudi of the han dynasty more than 2,000 years ago, bearing testimony to feudal monarchs` s longing for longevity. as the legend goes many heavenly elixirs grew on the three mythical islands. using artificial building techniques, the ancient chinese built this masterpiece based on the myth to make the mythical on appear to be accessible to humans. (inside the garden of harmonious interest) setting a garden within a larger garden has been one of china traditional architectural styles. the garden of harmonious interest serves as a fine example of this. this garden was built under the order of emperor qianlong and modeled after the jichang garden (garden of ease of mind )at the foot of mount huishan, jiansu province. it was renamed by his son emperor jiaqing in 1811. the existing garden was rebuilt by emperor or guangxu. empress dowager cixi used to go fishing here. the garden features 10 waterfront platforms, pavilions and halls as well as hundreds of galleries with all of its structures facing the lake and pools, the garden of harmonious interest is basically a garden of waterscape. spanning the vast expanse of the lake and pools are five bridges, each quite different from the others. the most famous of them is the bridge known as “knowing –the fishing-bridge.” it is said that more than 2,500 years ago during the warring states period, two philosophere named zhuang zi had an interesting argument by the side of a pond. zhang said, ”fish swim to and fro in the water. what happy fish!” hui asked , ”you are not a fish. how do you know they are happy? ” zhuang replied, “you are not me .how do you know i don’t know? ” hui signed, “i am not you ,therefore, i don’t know you . and you are not a fish ,so how do you know that fish are happy? ” zhang said, “you ask me how i know fish are happy, why do you keepi ng me the same question?”
although the garden of harmonious interest was designed after jichang garden, it not only absorbed the original designs, but exceeded it . (outside the south entrance to suzhou shopping street) now lets have a look at longevity hill. on the back slope of the hill stands a group of architectures. the centerpiece of structures there are known as the four continents and are dedicated to buddhism. this group was laid out and arranged in accordance with buddhist cosmology. aside from a main shrine and structures embodying the four continents, there are eight towers representing minor continents. the shrine is surrounded by four lamaist pagodas and between the major and minor continents, there two platforms representing the sun and the moon.
the qing authority attached great importance to buddhism. to further strengthen ties with the ethnic minorities who practiced buddhism, the monarchs incorporated both han and tibetan styles of architecture into this group of temples.
further north at the foot of the four major continent lies the suzhou shopping street. built along the back lake of the summer palace, this street stretches about 300 meters and features more than 60 stores. it includes restaurants, teahouses, pawnshops banks, drugstores dye houses and publishing houses. in order to recreate the atmosphere of ancient times, visitors will have the chance to exchange their money to ancient style chinese coins for use here. storefronts are trimmed with traditional signboards and ornaments. the commercial culture of the mid-18th century has thus been recreated. (atop the stone bridge inside the suzhou shopping street)
visitors may be surprise to see that this shopping street is almost the same as that in south china. as a matter of fact, this street was designed after the shops along the canals in suhzhou. originally known as emperor` s shopping street, it was built during the reign of emperor qianlong. after making several inspection tours to south china and being duly impressed by its commercial prosperity, emperor qianlong ordered the construction of this street.
the imperial shopping street was burnt down by anglo-french allied forces in 1860. the site remained desolated until 1987, when reconstruction began. it was opened to the public in september 1990.
with commercial culture as its hallmark, the suzhou shopping street is a vivid representation of china` s traditional cultures. (on the road from the south fate of the suzhou shopping street to the marble boat) this is the hall of pines. from it to the west we can walk to the marble boat. the path we aree taking stretches between longevity hill and back lake. monarchs and their cohorts used to stroll along it .hence it was named central imperial path. along this path you will see lilacs all around. hence, this road is also known as the path of lilac. (in front of the ruins of the garden of complete spring) quite a few unique structures were burnt down during the reign of emperor qianlong, among which the garden of complete spring was one of the most famous. the ruined and desolate courtyard by the roadside was its original site, it remains to be restored. this group of structures cover an area of 4,000 square meters and features a number of halls built on three different levels. all of the structures were connected with galleries and stone staircases. with its natural and ingenious combination of pavilions, a hall, galleries and rooms, the garden of complete spring serves as a fine model for other gardens. emperor qianlong frequently visited this compound. (along the lakeside by the marble boat)
