Yuanming Yuan

Yuanming Yuan, situated within the grounds of the Old Summer Palace, also known as the "Gardens of Perfect Clarity" and the "Garden of Gardens," served as a retreat for the imperial Qing court before it was leveled and looted by British and French troops under the command of James Bruce, the Earl of Elgin, in 1860 during the second Opium War. 
 

Today it is a haunting but melancholy place, with the ruins only hinting at what was once a resplendent complex of fountains, gardens and a unique blend of Chinese and European architecture (the Emperor Qianlong had employed Jesuits in the design of many Western-style buildings). 

The original imperial retreat, initiated in the early 1700s under Emperor Kangxi, consisted of three gardens: Yuanmingyuan, Changchunyuan (Garden of Eternal Spring) and Wanchunyuan, covering some 350 hectares. The southern part of Yuanmingyuan was where the emperor dealt with official business. In other areas, imitations of famed scenic spots from throughout China and the West once stood. 

Today, it's difficult to imagine the site as it was before it fell victim to history. Nonetheless, with a little imagination one can still picture the emperor atop a hill gazing down at the replica of Venice created for his pleasure. If you want to see the treasures and art once housed in the Old Summer Palace, you'll have to spend a lot of time touring museums and galleries around the world, though recently wealthy Chinese and Taiwanese institutions and individuals—including Macau casino kingpin Stanley Ho—have begun purchasing looted items for return to the Motherland.