October 5th｜Traveling around Beijing: Rowing Captain: Without Cixi, would Guangxu’s reforms have succeeded?

Hello everyone

In this tour, we will follow the rowing captain into the Summer Palace

Gardens are the carriers of Chinese culture and art

The Summer Palace is the pinnacle of Chinese culture.

There are not only buildings and pavilions, but also calligraphy and paintings.

There are also open and secret struggles and bloody storms in the temple

Let us walk into the beautiful scenery and listen to the history together!

Image from the Summer Palace official website

As the most comprehensive Chinese garden, the Summer Palace has a unique position in terms of both artistic and historical value. Here, every scene is not only aesthetically pleasing, but also has a historical background. This makes the Summer Palace a place that is always new.

In this episode, we will once again visit the Summer Palace. This time, we will follow the captain of the rowing team to explore the stories behind the following places.

 Team leader

Special contributor and speaker of Xunji Lecture Hall

The first generation of military fans, second-hand poets, third-rate crosstalk fans, four major modern navy enthusiasts, five Ling young men, six pieces of bath scrubbers. The main lecture columns are "The Spear That Never Sets - British Royal Navy" and "Xunji Xiaojiang".

Event Highlights

Paiyun Hall

Image from the Summer Palace official website

Paiyun Hall - As the largest palace in the park, it took 9 years from site clearing to completion, and it almost ran through the entire construction project of the Summer Palace. Originally, this hall was the bedroom of Empress Dowager Cixi, but why didn't the old Buddha dare to live in it and moved to Leshou Hall?

Marble Boat

Image from the Summer Palace official website

Since the construction of the Summer Palace began, the Prime Minister of the Navy, who had been running around for funds for the construction of the park, went from secretly raising funds to openly misappropriating naval funds. At this time, naval construction also entered a critical period.

Coincidentally, there is also an unsinkable ship parked in the northwest corner of Kunming Lake in the Summer Palace. Its appearance is somewhat similar to a warship. Some people say that it is used to symbolize an unsinkable warship. However, its immovable attribute also seems to illustrate the tragic fate of the Qing Dynasty navy.

Yulan Hall

Image from the Summer Palace official website

Emperor Guangxu lost his freedom in the last ten years of his life. He was imprisoned in Yingtai of Zhongnanhai in the Forbidden City and under house arrest in Yulantang of the Summer Palace. All of this stemmed from the 103- day Reform Movement of 1898. How did the reformists lose everyone's support? How much did Yuan Shikai's betrayal play a role? Without Cixi, would Guangxu's reforms have succeeded?

Grand Theatre

Image from the Summer Palace official website

As the place where Empress Dowager Cixi listened to operas, the Grand Theater was almost the only comfort for Cixi in her later years. As a woman with extremely limited education, Cixi could only listen to some Peking operas that were not worthy of being performed on stage at that time. Since then, Peking opera has become the essence of Chinese culture with the help of her. However, these Peking opera stars faced a tragic fate - becoming playthings on the tables of dignitaries .

Registration Information 

Event Time

● October 5 , 2024 (Saturday)

 Event Location

Beijing Summer Palace

Summer Palace: No. 19 , Xinjian Gongmen Road, Haidian District, Beijing

* The specific meeting place will be sent to your mobile phone by our customer service staff about three days before the group starts. Please pay attention to the push notifications.

* After successful registration, you must go to the gathering place and participate in the event together. After the event, you will be dismissed at the same place.

Number of participants

●No more than 30 people

●Children under 6 years old are not recommended to participate. Minors aged 6-14 years old must be accompanied by a guardian

●Refuse to temporarily parachute

Activity Fees

The fee includes: explanation by expert lecturer; tour guide service throughout the trip; audio guide.

The fee does not include: round trip travel before and after the meeting; other personal expenses.

 

Hassle-free refund policy

● If the event is unable to take place due to the organizer’s reasons or force majeure, all fees can be refunded to you (the place can be reserved if it is postponed);

●In addition to the above, no fees will be refunded once the registration is successful (transferable places);

● Children under 6 years old are not allowed to participate in this event, and children between 6 and 12 years old are not allowed to participate in the event alone.

* Note: In order to ensure the sustainability of offline activities, recording and videotaping are prohibited throughout the event. Thank you for your cooperation and understanding

* Note: After successful registration, the fee is non-refundable and non-exchangeable. Please do not bid if you mind.