China, I'm sorry. On behalf of my fellow English countrymen, I apologize.

Why? Well, after a trip to Beijing, during which I visited the Summer Palace, I am now consumed with guilt for the actions of the Anglo-French forces in years gone by and I feel that I need to say sorry (I suppose I should be apologizing on behalf of the French too, but I don't feel that guilty!).

Let me explain, for those of you not fortunate enough to have visited the Summer Palace. It's fabulous, awe-inspiring, beautiful and absolutely vast. At first glance, it also seems to have been beautifully preserved. However, it wasn't long before we noticed that many of the buildings that we were looking at had been rebuilt in the late 19th century.

The first building that we encountered was the Hall of Benevolence and Longevity. On reading the sign in front, it seems that its name hadn't offered it any protection against the Anglo-French forces, who we noted with some interest, had taken it upon themselves to burn it down in 1860.

Feeling slightly embarrassed, we moved onto the Garden of Virtue and Harmony, another magnificent building and surroundings. It seems this was also rebuilt after the Anglo-French forces torched it in 1860. We shrunk sheepishly away from this too.

And so the pattern continued. The Hall of Jade Ripples, the Hall of Happiness in Longevity, the Four Great Regions. Every building we visited, every beautiful garden or courtyard we wandered through, had been reduced to ashes by the English and the French.

After an hour or so, I found myself stopping Chinese tourists and saying sorry. After two hours, my boyfriend and I were pretending to be German and were trying to speak German to one another, having hidden the English map and guide book.

Finally, we came across a building that had not, according to the signage, been destroyed by the Anglo-French forces. I raised my arms in triumph, whooped with joy and ran round the courtyard in celebration. Then I realized that although it had survived the ravages of 1860, the building had been destroyed in 1900 by the Eight-Power Allied Forces. I exited hastily.

By the time we had been all the way around the Summer Palace, I felt that I should be standing at the exit gate personally apologizing to each and every visitor. The Summer Palace is a truly fabulous treasure, of which China is understandably very proud. I only hope that its restoration (albeit, enforced) may enable it to be preserved even longer.

And I'm sure it was the French who lit the first match anyway.

starcomment@yahoo.com