A Pavillion at the Yuanmingyuan Park 圆明园
The Yuanmingyuan Park was once the site of the original imperial palace in Beijing, however history shows that it was razed to the ground by the invadinng French and British troops. At that time, the Yuanmingyuan was the largest imperial palace, even larger than the nearby Summer Palace, which was constructed after its destruction and also larger than the Forbidden City which was also nearby. The story is that British emmissaries who were meeting up with a member of the imperial family were tortured and massacred, leading the British to order the sacking of the imperial palace. This was carried out by British and French troops.
The Author at the Yuanmingyuan Park 圆明园
The Yuanmingyuan Park, then the Imperial Palace was burned and looted by the British and French troops who carted over a large amount of imperial treasures which were housed there. It was hard to see here how the Yuanmingyuan Park used to be the site of the Imperial Palace since there was hardly anything left standing. That was how bad it was. The Yuanmingyuan Park is now some sort of archeological park with ruins all around, possibly waiting for someone to piece it all together. This reminds me of the ruins of Angkor Wat where pieces of temples where like a giant jigsaw puzzle.
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