Imperial delight

The buildings' eaves are decorated with delicate paintings. Provided by the Summer Palace to China Daily

It is also one of the four major grand theaters of the Qing Court along with Tongle Garden Theater in the Yuanmingyuan Imperial Garden, Qingyin Pavilion in the Summer Mountain Resort at Chengde, Hebei province, and Studio of Unimpeded Sound (Chang Yin Ge) in the Forbidden City.

The three-story theater stage can accommodate more than 100 actors performing simultaneously. It was designed with skylights, pits and pulleys, which can be used for air-and-ground myth plays. There is also a well at the bottom, where water can be drawn onto the stage when needed.

According to the Qing Court's documentation, Cixi watched operas more than 260 times in the garden. Peking Opera masters, such as Tan Xinpei (1847-1917) and Yang Xiaolou (1878-1938) used to perform for her.

The empress dowager used to sit in the Yile Hall, which was opposite the theater stage.

The surrounding porches on both sides were the seats for the ministers. At that time, the "puppet" Emperor Guangxu controlled by the "Dragon Lady" was only allowed to sit in the porch.

In 1953, these porches were modified into exhibiting spaces. They are now reopened and reinstated together with the grand theater.

There will be several performances shown on the theater stage every day, including Peking Opera and court dances, says Qin Lei, director of the cultural heritage department and assistant to director of the Summer Palace.

He says the Summer Palace is also working with the Beijing Peking Opera Institute to create a chronicle play.

"The play will rerun the moments of how Empress Dowager Cixi promoted the development of Peking Opera," Qin says.