The Summer Palace is very large in scale and covers an area of 290.8 hectares, of which, the water surface (Kunming Lake) is about 220 hectares and accounts for 75 percent. The Tower of Buddhist Incense is the central building in the Palace, and the Palace has over 3,000 buildings of various types, including pavilions, platforms, mansions, towers and waterside pavilions. It can be generally divided into three parts: the political area whose center is the Hall of Benevolence and Longevity, the queens and emperors' living area whose main parts are the Hall of Happiness and Longevity, Hall of Jade Ripples and Yiyun Hall, and the tourist area which consists of the Hill of Longevity and Kunming Lake. Taking the mountains to the west of Beijing as the borrowed scenery, the Summer Palace integrates its architectural complexes, hills and lakes perfectly and is really fantastic and spectacular.

Summer Palace's main scenic areas

In the most eastern area is the East Gate Area which consists of the Hall of Benevolence and Longevity and southern and northern courts (the places where emperors received officials), resting palaces, the Great Stage and courtyards. It was also the place for the emperors of the Qing Dynasty to deal with political affairs and daily life. The East Gate is the main entrance of the Summer Palace at present. Facing the east, the parts of the gate under the lintel were painted with gorgeous oil pictures. On the six red doors, yellow-colored doornails were embedded neatly. Under the central eave hangs a nine-dragon stele, on which are three big Chinese characters that read "Yi He Yuan," which were personally written by the Emperor Guangxu. On the rock beside the royal paths is a "Two Dragons Playing with a Pearl" picture, which was inscribed in the Emperor Qianlong period and represents the dignity of the emperor. In fact, the rock with the inscription was moved to this place from the relics of the ruins of the Old Summer Palace. The East Gate was the gate only for emperors and queens in the past.