China Looks to Undo Destruction of Summer Palace

In an event that Chinese remember to this day as one of the great humiliations of the Opium Wars, British and French forces in 1860 looted and completely destroyed Yuanmingyuan (“Garden of Perfect Brightness”), the Qing emperors’ fabuous complex of palaces and gardens. In the disaster’s 150th anniversary year, China is continuing a campaign to locate and demand the return of Yuanmingyuan’s looted treasures.