The Summer Palace - 颐和园 (Yeheyuan)

The Summer Palace was originally built in 1750 and

was named the Garden of Clear Ripples. 

 It was destroyed in 1860 during the Opium wars,

but was rebuilt in 1886 by the emperor Cixi

and renamed the Summer Palace.

 

The morning we were here it was raining -

so we were not able to see all of the garden or get very clear pictures. 

On the bright side - the rain cleaned the air and removed the smog for a couple of days.

The entrance to the garden

Close-up of the gate

The Pagoda near the bridge to the island.  I am sure it has a name - but can't remember.  The interior is lined with poems all around.
 

Soldiers were stationed at all of the tourist sites.

The bridge to the island in the middle of  KunMing Lake.  The Lake was built to replicate West Lake in Hangzhou.
 (The day we visited West Lake it was raining too - must be something about the water.)

Close-up of the roof details

On the left is the Summer Palace - we couldn't see it clearly because of the rain :-(. 
Check out this website for some awesome pictures of the
Summer Palace - Beijing

One of the boats that take you across the lake

Rubber Ducky!! 
It is touring the world and happened to be in Beijing while we were there.