15 kilometers northwest of Beijing city center, the Summer Palace is one of China's largest and best-preserved imperial gardens. Ordered by the Empress Dowager Cixi of Qing Dynasty, the reconstruction of the garden was started in 1888 and completed in 1895. It covers a total area of 290 hectares with 3,000 palaces, galleries and pavilions, four- fifths of which are water surface. The design gives prominence to the greenery Longevity Hill and the clear Kunming Lake. It is a masterpiece of Chinese landscape garden design, integrating the natural landscape of hills and open water with manmade features such as pavilions, halls, palaces, temples and bridges into a harmonious and aesthetically exceptional whole.