Situated in western outskirts of Beijing, the Summer Palace is 10 kilometers from the central city. it is the imperial garden and temporary palace of Qing dynasty in history. As it"s name implies, Qing"s Imperial rulers used it as a summer residence. The Palace began to assume its present shape during the reign of Emperor Qianlong who ruled in the late 18th century. Using an army of 100,000 laborers, the Emperor enlarged and deepened the lake, creating a network of small islands connected by dykes doubling as bridges. The layout is inspired by Taoist legends of immortal islands in the middle of misty lakes--the Chinese version of the Fountain of Youth myth. Like most of the gardens of Beijing, it could not elude the rampages of the Anglo-French allied force and was destroyed by fire. In 1888, Empress Dowager Cixi embezzled navy funds to reconstruct it for her own benefit. She spent most of her later years there, dealing with state affairs and entertaining. In 1900, it suffered again, being ransacked by the Eight-Power Allied Force. After the success of the 1911 Revolution, it was opened to the public.