Located northwest of Beijing and 15km from the city centre, the Summer Palace ranks No. 1 among China's ancient parks. It was an imperial palace built during the first year of Emperor Zhenyuan (1153) of the Jin Dynasty. In 1888, Empress Dowager Cixi diverted 30 million taels of silver desingated originally for the Chinese navy into the reconstruction and enlargement of the Summer Palace.

In December 1998, UNESCO included the Summer Palace on its World Heritage List. It declared the Summer Palace an "outstanding expression of the creative art of Chinese landscape garden design, incorporating the works of humankind and nature in a harmonious whole." It is a popular tourist destination but also serves as a recreational park.