Pavilion of the Star of Hope

View of a Chinese pavilion with elaborate architecture and sophisticated decoration in the Tongzhou District, Beijing. A dignitary greets a kneeling visitor in the marble court. The pavilion is described as follows by the author:

Exhibiting an endless variety in design, yet built in strict accordance with the laws that limit domestic architecture, the Pavilion of the Star of Hope is, even amongst the metropolitan mandarins, who retire in summer to this locality, considered the Tong-chow par excellence. The lawns that extend, or rather rise, from the bank of the silvery Pei-ho to the pleasure-grounds of the villa, constitute a spacious demesne, intersected by artificial rivulets, adorned with artificial lakes, and embellished with bridges more numerous than necessary, and constructed for luxury rather than convenience. The garden and pleasure-grounds passed, visitors reach the marble court in front, a broad bright plateau, where the venerable owner occasionally receives them, and accepts the homage of the kow-tow, or prostration.