Dragon Statue in Summer Palace Beijing, China

Photo & story by: Debbie Stock

Summer Palace in northwest Beijing is a ticketed attraction. This Imperial Garden was first built in 1750. Mostly destroyed in the war of 1860 and restored on its original foundations in 1886, UNESCO recognizes it as a masterpiece of Chinese landscape garden design. The natural landscape of hills and open water is combined with artificial features such as pavilions, halls, palaces, temples and bridges to form an ensemble.

The complex is massive and can take half or full day to wander through and see all the sights. Even in "off" season the attraction gets large crowds as shown in this photo taken in early March.

Next photo: Shanghai Maglev Train