頤和園，原是清朝帝王的行宮和花園，前身清漪園，為三山五園（三山是指萬壽山、香山和玉泉山。三座山上分別建有三園清漪園、靜宜園、靜明園，此外還有附近的暢春園和圓明園，統稱五園）中最後興建的一座園林，始建於1750年，1764年建成，面積290公頃,水面約佔四分之三。

Summer Palace, was originally a palace and gardens of the Qing emperors, formerly Qing Yi Park, five for the Three Mountains Park (Three Mountains is the Longevity Hill, Jade Spring Mountain, and Fragrant Hill. Three mountain parks were built three Qing Yi Park, Providence Park, Jing Ming Garden , in addition to Chang Chun and near the Summer Palace, collectively referred to five gardens) in the final construction of a garden, was built in 1750, built in 1764, area of ​​290 hectares, about three-quarters of the water.

乾隆繼位以前，在北京西郊一帶，已建起了四座大型皇家園林，從海淀到香山這四座園林自成體系，相互間缺乏有機的聯繫，中間的“甕山泊”成了一片空曠地帶。乾隆十五年（1750年），乾隆皇帝為孝敬其母孝聖皇后動用448萬兩白銀在這裡改建為清漪園，以此為中心把兩邊的四個園子連成一體，形成了從現清華園到香山長達二十公里的皇家園林區。咸豐十年（1860年），清漪園被英法聯軍焚毀。光緒十四年（1888年），慈禧太后以籌措海軍經費的名義動用銀兩（據專家考證，應為​​500至600萬兩白銀），由樣式雷的第七代傳人雷廷昌主持重建，改稱頤和園，作消夏遊樂地。到光緒二十六年（1900年），頤和園又遭“八國聯軍”的破壞，許多珍寶被劫掠一空。光緒二十九年（1903年）修復。後來在軍閥混戰、國民黨統治時期，又遭破壞，1949年之後政府不斷撥款修繕。

Qianlong before the throne, in the area west of Beijing, has built four large-scale imperial garden, from Xiangshan, Haidian to these four self-contained garden, lack of organic links between the middle of the "urn Hill Park" has become an open area . Qianlong fifteen years (1750), Emperor Qianlong honor his mother Empress Xiao Sheng spent 4.48 million taels of silver here into a Qing Yi Park, as a garden center to both sides of the four fused, formed from the current Tsinghua Fragrant Hills Park, up to 20 kilometers to the royal garden area. Xianfeng years (1860) and Qing Yi Park, the British and French troops burned. Fourteen years Guangxu (1888), Empress Dowager Cixi to raise funds in the name of the Navy to use silver (according to experts, research, should be 500-6000000 taels of silver), by the style of the seventh generation descendant of mine Leiting Chang presided over reconstruction, renamed the Summer Palace for summertime pleasure ground. To Guangxu 20 years (1900), the Summer Palace will again be "Boxer Rebellion" of destruction, and many treasures were looted. Guangxu 29 years (1903) repair. Later in the warlords, the KMT's reign, again be destroyed, the government continued funding after 1949 renovation.

1961年3月4日，頤和園被公佈為第一批全國重點文物保護單位，1998年11月被列入《世界遺產名錄》。 2007年5月8日，頤和園經國家旅遊局正式批准為國家5A級旅遊景區。 2009年，頤和園入選中國世界紀錄協會中國現存最大的皇家園林。頤和園擁有多項世界之最、中國之最。

March 4, 1961, the Summer Palace was announced as the first batch of national key cultural relics protection units, in November 1998 was included in the "World Heritage List." May 8, 2007, the Summer Palace formally approved by the China National Tourism Administration for the state 5A-class tourist attractions. In 2009, the Summer Palace, China Association selected the existing world record of China's largest imperial garden. Summer Palace has a number in the world, China the most.