Old House in the Studio of Serence Beauty 清华轩
You’ve got to hand it to the Chinese people, they practically name everything. I was walking along the shores of Kunming Lake when I wandered into a few structures on the right. I was much like an enclosed garden, this is called the Studio of Serene Beauty 清华轩. The main feature of the studio is a pond which covers most of the open area. The pond is octagonal in shape and it has one single bridge from one side to the other.
Bridge at the Center of the Studio of Serene Beauty 清华轩
The Chinese are masters of garden design and it seems that they would be able to make a decent one out of any space given to them. The Studio of Serene Beauty also has some structures around the pond. To my dismay the structure was a store. I was thinking there might be some kind of exhibit housed within. As I would find out for much of my trip, a lot of idle space has been restored and others turned into stores selling anything from souvenir items to refreshments.
Like much of the Summer Palace, old as this structure is, it was already a reconstruction as the older structure was destroyed by foreign troops. It used to house the Hall of 500 Arhats at the time of Emperor Qianlong 乾隆. The Summer Palace was reconstructed during the reign of Emperor Guangxu 光绪 and where it got its current name.
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