本书以历史资料为依据，以知识性为主，兼顾趣味性，在重点介绍颐和园建筑艺术及其使用功能的同时，穿插介绍一些宫廷故事和传说，使读者对颐和园的造园艺术和历史价值有一个粗略的了解。

As China's economy developed and the livelihood of the people improved in the last decade, there has appeared a tourist upsurge, in which the Summer Palace (Yiheyuan - meaning Garden of Harmonious Peace), the most famous classical imperial garden in the world,has become a tourist hot spot.

Statistics show that since 1995 the Summer Palace has been visited by as many as 10 million people every year. The increase by several hundred thousand visitors to a garden on a city's outskirts every year is unprecedented anywhere in the world.

Preface 

Emperor Qianlon9 Rebuilds the Gardens 

Changing the Name of the Urn Hill 

A Garden Within the Garden 

Mimicking Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty 

Yelu Chucai, an Important Official of Three Reigns 

The Marble Boat 

Interesting Rocks  

Building a Temple to Win over People 

Moving a Rock Caused the Ruin of a Family 

Bronze Ox Pacifies the Waves 

Replacing a Pagoda with a Tower 

A Stroll Along the Long Corridor 

lade Belt and Other Bridges 

Pavilions Add Splendour 

Cixi’s Reconstruction of the Garden 

The Hall of Happiness and Longevity 

"When the Army and Navy Suffer Defeat, the Court Celebrates"

Two Largest Halls 

Life-prolonging Well 

A Farmhouse in the Imperial Garden 

Cixi Watches Pilgrim Parades 

The Emperor’s Prison  

The Empress Dowager’s Sumptuous Dining Table 

The imperial Clinic  

The Great Opera Stage  

Listening to Orioles and Strolling in a Picture 

Each Stream, Lake, Building and Gate Has Its Background

Suzhou Street - A Waterside Market in the Palace 

A Eunuch of"Eternal Life"  

The Discovery of a Five-ton Bronze Buddhist Statue 

Visiting the Ruins and Pondering on the Past 

Recreating the Tower of Bright Scenery 

Studying at the Serenity Hall 

The Restored "Pictures of Farming and Weaving"