Researcher re-grows imperial gardens' story

Curious landscape architect and his team uncover the place where emperors chose to live that nearly vanished with urban development, Wang Ru reports.

Millions of Chinese people have watched this scene in classic TV dramas: an old emperor gasping his final words in a grand hall, with princes scheming in the shadows. Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) Emperor Kangxi lay in his death bed, setting off the bitter struggle that finally put Emperor Yongzheng on the throne. Yet few realize Kangxi died not in the Forbidden City, but in a garden northwest of Beijing that has almost entirely vanished.

Historically, the scene took place in Changchun Garden, one of the "Three Hills and Five Gardens", a place Qing emperors increasingly chose to live. Specifically, this name refers to the Xiangshan, Yuquan and Wanshou Mountains, and five royal gardens: Jingyi Garden, Jingming Garden, Changchun Garden, Yuanmingyuan (the Old Summer Palace), and Qingyi Garden, or the Summer Palace.

This forgotten landscape became a scholar's life work.