In its day, it was larger, grander, and even more sublime than the Forbidden City, but by 1900, the famed Old Summer Palace in Beijing lay in ruins. Historians and computer animators are now using old records, paintings and modern technology to construct a three-dimensional recreation of what the imperial compound looked like in its glory days.

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The Old Summer Palace, also known as "Gardens of Perfect Brightness," is five times the size of the famous Forbidden City, a structure that for all its splendor was reserved for ceremonial use. By contrast, the Old Summer Palace, called "Yuanmingyuan" in Chinese, was where the day to day administration of China's affairs took place during the Qing Dynasty. The construction of the palace began in 1707, during the reign of Emperor Kangxi, and continued in the next 150 years. 

The 3D app is set to be released this October and breathes life and color into what remains of China's imperial "office." A fabulous complex of palaces, gardens, courtyards, pools, feasting and reception halls, temples, bridges, and galleries, the Old Summer Palace sprawls over 850 acres. Weathering the intrigues of Qing politics fairly well, the compound the Europeans called the "Oriental Palace of Versailles" was devastated in 1890 when a British envoy sent for negotiations during the first Opium War was captured by Qing forces and tortured. Twenty deaths resulted, and infuriated English and French troops descended on the palace, burned it to the ground, and plundered its treasures.

Modest reconstruction was done under the reign of the Tongzhi Emperor in 1873, but the plan was abandoned and the Imperial Family relocated to the Forbidden City. More fighting in 1900 during the Boxer Rebellion further damaged the site. By the time Chinese authorities proposed turning the palace grounds into a park in the 1980s, farmers had moved in and sewn their crops.

Today, what is left of the imperial buildings is preserved as part of Yuanmingyuan Park. Park officials worked with technicians from Tsinghua University to reconstitute a faithful reproduction of the Old Summer Palace, and a trial of the app is available for visitors at the visitor center ahead of its fall debut. 

TagsYuanmingyuan, App, Forbidden City