Yuanmingyuan Ruins Park opens for free on its 161st anniversary of destruction

Tourists visit the Dashuifa Site (fountain site) at Yuanmingyuan Ruins Park, Beijing, Oct. 18, 2021. (Photo: China News Service/Yi Haifei)

Yuanmingyuan Ruins Park, or the Old Summer Palace, opened to the public for free on Monday to commemorate its 161st anniversary of destruction.

On Oct. 18, 1860, Anglo-French forces invaded Beijing and burned down the Old Summer Palace during the Second Opium War. The Park, once reputed as the "Garden of Gardens" was razed to the ground and countless cultural relics were looted.