architectural designs  beijing  pekin  forbidden city  yasak şehir  乾隆帝  ᠠᠪᡴᠠᡳ ᠸᡝᡥᡳᠶᡝᡥᡝ  ཆན་ལུང་།  香山公园  fragrant hills  万园之园  萬園之園  old summer palace  garden of perfect brightness  yuanmingyuan  wàn yuán zhī yuán  garden of gardens  qianlong emperor  qiánlóngdì  tengeriin tetgesen khaan  abkai wehiyehe hūwangdi  

Old Summer Palace (near the Summer Palace Complex) is known in Chinese as Yuanmingyuan ~Garden of Perfect Brightness or Garden of Gardens~ Simplified Chinese: 万园之园; Traditional Chinese: 萬園之園; Pinyin: wàn yuán zhī yuán). It was built by the Qing emperors in the 17th and 18th centuries. There has never been an imperial pleasure ground that can surpass it, the Emperor Qianlong wrote in 1742.

Now a UNESCO world heritage site, the Summer Palace situated in the northwestern suburbs, was once used by the royal court as a summer retreat to escape from the heat of the city. This imperial structure with its expansive palace grounds, temples, gardens, pavilions and the majestic 17-arch bridge spanning over the lake, make for a great tourist attraction.