The Long Corridor was first built in 1750; when the Qianlong Emperor commissioned work to convert the area into an imperial garden. The corridor was constructed so that the emperor's mother could enjoy a walk through the gardens protected from the elements. Like most of the Summer Palace; the Long Corridor was severely damaged by fire which Anglo-French allied forces laid in 1860 during the Second Opium War.

The Summer Palace (Yiheyuan) was originally created during the Ming Dynasty; but was designed in its current form by Qing emperor Qianlong (r. 1736 - 1795). It is however Qianlong's mother; the Qing Dowager Empress Cixi who is most irrevocably linked to the palace; since she had it restored twice during her reign; once in 1860 after it was plundered by British and French troops during the Second Opium War; and again in 1902 when foreign troops sought reprisals for the Boxer Rebellion; an anti-Christian movement.