A Buddhist temple named the Night-blooming Cereus Building stood here when the Summer Palace was called the Garden of Clear Ripples. Burned down in 1860 by the Anglo-French Allied Forces, it was rebuilt into what is now the Hall of Utmost Blessing. The front of the building is a spacious hall where the Empress Dowager enjoyed watching the moon or the spring showers, and received foreign envoys. Peace talks between the Communist Party Central Committee and the Nationalist Government of Nanjing were held here in 1949.