The Long Gallery, Summer Palace, Beijing, China

The long corridor

My cousin's recent visit to China, made me a little more knowledgeable about China. One of the places she visited was the Summer palace in Beijing. I am sharing some pictures from the "Long Gallery" in the Summer palace.

The Long Gallery is also known as the "coloured paintings museum" because of the beautiful colour paintings, over 14,000 Su style colored paintings on every beam of the Gallery. I believe it is called Su style because this form of painting was first started in Suzhou, Hangzhou, China.

The Long Gallery is 728 meters long; no surprise why it should be called the Long Gallery! It is perhaps the longest corridor in Chinese classical gardens. The history behind it is very interesting. It was built in 1749-50. Emperor Qianlong built it for his mother so that she could enjoy the outdoors no matter what weather it would be outside. I believe the view from the Long gallery is beautiful. It provides a wonderful view of the hill and the lake.

This Gallery was is in the Guinness book of world records because of the sheer number of beautiful coloured paintings.The paints were made out of natural raw colours. The scientific reason behind it would be because paints would protect the wooden structures from insects and other natural forces and as such increase their longevity. These paintings are amazingly beautiful. The Long Gallery has many hundreds of stories painted on it; there are landscapes, flowers, birds, and historical figures as well. If you take a closer look at the paintings, you will find them quite interesting.

Paintings on the beams

Amazing colours

Colour Painting - Long Gallery

Each painting has a story

Painting, Long Gallery, Summer Palace Beijing

Interesting- Each painting is unique

Beautiful painting of birds

Another beautiful colour painting