The Summer Palace is located on the northwest outskirts of Beijing, about 20 kilometers away from the center of the city. It is the best-preserved imperial garden in the world and one of the largest of its kind still in existence in China today.

The Summer Palace is formed mainly of Longevity Hill and Kunming Lake. It occupies a total area of over 290 hectares (716 acres) ( the latest figure is 300. 8 hectares).Longevity Hill covers one quarter of the total area, which is about 70 hectares,while Kunming Lake covers the rest of the three quarters, which is about 220 hectares. Longevity Hill is an extension of the Western Hills.While Kunming Lake used to get water from the springs of Jade Spring Hill, which lies to its west , Kunming Lake now gets water from Miyun Reservoir, northeast of Beijing,102 kilometers (63 miles) away. The peaks of the Western Hills and the pagoda on Jade Spring Hill can be seen in the distance. This is a typical method in garden-building, known as “ borrowing the scenery from a distance. “