Virtual reality brings Old Summer Palace back to life

![]() |
The restoration scenery of the Fanghu Wonderland at the Old Summer Palace during the period of the Qianlong emperor in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). [Photo/Asianewsphoto] |
The team, lead by Guo Daiheng, a professor from the Architecture School of Tsinghua, briefed their digital study on the imperial palace and their achievements at a press conference on April 18.
Guo's mentor was well-known late Chinese architect Liang Sicheng. It took Guo and her team 15 years to complete the digital restoration.
The Old Summer Palace in northwest Beijing was first constructed in the early 18th century as a site to honor the best of Chinese landscaping and Western styles. The garden used to cover 350 hectares, with a perimeter of 10 kilometers.
However, in 1860, Anglo-French forces sacked and looted the Old Summer Palace, also known as Yuanmingyuan, and burned it to the ground. From then on, the park suffered continual damage at the hands of the Eight-Power Allied Forces (composed of Britain, France, Germany, Russia, the United States, Japan, Italy and Austria), warlords, bandits, and the entire site has been in ruins since.
- Beijing aims for new air travel, freight milestones by 2030
- China prosecutes two criminal gangs from northern Myanmar
- Food delivery platforms to abolish late-delivery fines
- China reaffirms commitment to fusion energy as two IAEA events open
- Meng Fanli elected governor of China's Guangdong
- Xizang's autumn harvest nearly complete despite rainfall