The ruins of the Grand Waterworks (Dashuifa) in Beijing's Old Summer Palace, or Yuanmingyuan. [File Photo: eBeijing.gov.cn]

There will be a series of activities this year to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the destruction of the Old Summer Palace (Yuanmingyuan), the Beijing News reported.

Aisin-Gioro Boxun, deputy director of the organizing committee for the remembrance activities, announced that the activities would include forums and exhibitions, with the climax being a conference held on October 18, 2010. Multi-national guests will be invited, including guests from Britain and France. At the conference, China will not only remember the historical event with other countries, but also discuss how to protect the relics at the palace, he added.

Chen Mingjie, a director of the Old Summer Palace, said the years schedule will be announced very soon.

The Old Summer Palace was built during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911 AD). In 1860, during the second Opium War, British and French expeditionary forces occupied Beijing after Emperor Xianfeng fled the capital. The alliance forces then marched to the Old Summer Palace. After extensive looting, the British High Commissioner to China Lord Elgin ordered the place to be destroyed on October 18, 1860. Afterward, several thousand British soldiers set the palace on fire. Within three days, most of the buildings were burned to the ground.