[Billy]

After the Revolution of 1911, the Summer Palace became the private property of the deposed Emperor Puyi, who in 1914 opened the garden to the public. The entrance fee was so high that the palace had very few visitors. In 1924, Puyi was forced to leave the Forbidden City by the "Christian" General Feng Yuxiang, and the Beijing government turned the Summer palace once again fell prey to full-scale devastation; pavilions and covered corridors were destroyed, lakes became silted up, vegetation withered and died, and antiques and other objects of value were lost.

Today, older Beijing residents can still recall some of the palace's former treasures: the statue of the Goddess of Mercy and the watermelon made of kingfisher jade (feicui), the huge jade disc (bi) which "could be traded for several cities," the pearl that glowed at night, and the pearl-embroidered shoes. When the Kuomintang troops fled the mainland, they absconded with these and other treasures, some of which ended up in Taiwan, while he remainder was bought up by museums and private collectors in state of total dilapidation. After the founding of the People' s Republic in 1949, local authorities began the painstaking task of restoration. Today, after more than 40 years of repainting and reconstruction, the Summer Palace plays host to approximately 2 million visitors per year.

There were some foreign visitors in the park that day. October is the best time of Beijing.