[Billy]

Fangwaiguan (Belvedere)

Fangwaiguan was a two-storied European palace. Built in 1759, it faced south, sitting to the east of Xieqiqu. Outside, a pair of the second floor to the ground. The ceilings and walls on the two floors were covered with a Western-style landscape painting. On the eastern and western walls of the second floor hung four glass screens, each holding a figure painting on silk painted by J.Denis Attiret. There were three rooms on the first floor. In the central room stood a large mirror, on a wall in the west room hung a Western-style tapestry with patterns designed by Giussepe Castiglione; in the east room stood a Western-style mirror, reflecting the Dragon-Phoenix Fountain outside. It is said that this building used to be the place of worship for a Uygur concubine in favor with Emperor Qianlong. There were also a pair of round, white marble tablets, both 1.3m in diameter, bearing inscriptions in Arabic, one saying: Ottoman loves Allah, and allah loves Ottoman; and the other: Ali loves Allah, and Allah loves Ali. The tablets disappeared, leaving only photographs taken early in this century. Beyond the bridge in the southeast of Fangwaiguan was a Western-style octagonal pavilion.

The Labyrinth

Located to the north of Xieqiqu, the Labyrinth was an imitation of a Eupopean-style maze. In the center was a high, round-based Western-style pavilion, surrounded by layers of 1.2m-high brick walls that formed rectangles. The Labyrinth stretched 89m from north to south, 59m from east to west, the length of its walls totaling over 1,6000m. It was said that the emperor used to hold a lantern party in the Labyrinth on the evening of the Mid-autumn Festival (the 15th day of the eighth Chinese lunar month). The palace maids would run between the walls, carrying lotus lanterns made of yellow silk-the first to reach the pavilion in the center would get an award from the emperor. Thus the Labyrinth was also known as "Garden of Yellow Flowers." The Labyrinth was restored in 1989, with the pavilion built of white marble.