Summer Palace

The Summer Palace is a large park located in the west of Beijing, about 12 kilometers from the center. It is easily reachable with the subway, although finding the entrance can be a nuance. As an advice, do not take the rickshaws as they will rip you off. It is quite a large park, with a lot of "hilly" roads. You can read more when you click through.

Summer Palace

The Summer Palace was the site for the emperor and empress(es) to enjoy their time in the summer. It is located around a large lake, named Kunming. The area is quite vast, covering a stunning 3 square kilometers. If you want to see all, I would suggest taking about 5 to 6 hours.

We entered through the north gate, which is closest to the subway (Beigongmen). There are several sites for which an additional ticket is needed. The first one, Suzhou Street, is located several meters away from the entrance. It is a shopping street built to entertain the emperor and such; other people would play merchants and the emperor would think he was walking in an ordinary shopping street. That is what I call a lifelike attraction.

Suzhou Street

Overview of the mountain

From there, one could either take the handicap accessible road around the mountain or cross the mountain towards the lake side. As there is another paid attraction on top of the mountain, we climbed the mountain. From the picture on the left side it is clear that it is quite the climb. However, it is really worth it. Both for the temple you can enter but I think even more for the marvelous overview you get over Kunming Lake.

Around the lake, there are even more paid attractions. And even more unpaid. The ones paid, Wenchang Gallery and The Garden of Virtue and Harmony, are worth visiting. Though, personally, The Garden of Virtue and Harmony is nicer as it contains an opera building which really quite well shows how they lived and spent their time.

If you visit the Summer Palace, do not forget to visit the Garden of Harmonious Interest. It is a bit remote (and therefore calm) but it is well worth visiting. The many pavilions give room for a nice lunch (if you brought something along) and has many scenic spots for beautiful pictures.

Overview of the lake

Garden of Harmonious Interests