• Summer Palace (Beijing)

• Name in Chinese characters: 颐和园
• Name in Pinyin: Yi He Yuan

• Sitting on the outskirts of Beijing’s city centre is the majestic Summer Palace (or in Chinese Yi He Yuan 颐和园, the Gardens of Nurtured Harmony). Originally designed in 1750, in the middle of the Qing dynasty, the park drew inspiration from other regions of China. Covering an area of nearly three square kilometres, the park is dominated by the Hill of Longevity which overlooks Kunming Lake, expanded to its current size to replicate the West Lake in Hangzhou, and combined with the other lakes cover three quarters of the park.

  The park was rebuild in 1886, as a summer resort for Empress Cixi, and renamed two years later as Yihe Yuan (Summer Palace). These renovations were infamously done so with funds that had been set aside to create a modern Chinese Navy, which is ironically symbolized by the Marble Boat that sits on the north shore of the Kunming Lake. The Summer Palace has since undergone several major renovations.

  Kunming Lake was designed to incorporate scenery from the region south of the Yangtze River. It contains three large islands and is perhaps most famous for its Seventeen Arch Bridge which is 105m long and based on the design of the Marco Polo Bridge 15 km to the southwest of Beijing. With 544 lions the white marble bridge has 17 arches as starting from the central arch, and counting it in both cases, you have nine arches to each side (with nine being the supreme number of the emperor).

  The Summer Palace was listed on UNESCO's World Heritage List in December 1998, being described as

  a masterpiece of Chinese landscape garden design. The natural landscape of hills and open water is combined with artificial features such as pavilions, halls, palaces, temples and bridges to form a harmonious ensemble of outstanding aesthetic value.

  Attractions For Visitors

  The Summer Palace is in the northwest of Beijing and can be reached by public transport or by taxi. Beigongmen Station on Line 4 of Beijing’s subway will take you to the North gate. There are also many buses.

  Opening Hours:

  Summer (from April 1 to October 31): 6:30-18:00

  Winter (from November 1 to March 31): 7:00-17:00

  Ticket price vary on season and how much you want to see. For a through ticket (entry to all sites) the cost is RMB 50 in the winter and RMB 60 in the Summer, and for park entry only it is RMB 20 in the winter and RMB 30 in the summer.

  The summer palace is worth visiting all year around, in the summer it is a great place to relax outside of the city and it is also possible to rent boats out to cruise around the Kunming lake (see below). Spring offers a beautiful array of blossoms and autumn the changing of the leaves while winter is less crowded and the lakes freeze over.

  The Park is also home to 70,000 square metres of building space which features a variety of architectural styles, including:

  • Hall of Benevolence and Longevity: where the emperor used to conduct his business, and which still houses his throne, is decorated with dragons and over two hundred ways to write the Chinese character for ‘Longevity’;
  • The Long Corridor: at 728 metres, the longest corridor in the world. Running along the north bank of the Kunming Lake from the Yaoyuemen (Gate of Inviting the Moon) in the east to the Shizhang Pavilion in the west the corridor has over 10,000 paintings on its walls and ceilings, and is a great access route though the park;
  • The Wenchang Gallery (Wen Chang Yuan, 文昌院): to the East of the Wenchang tower, houses thousands of the Summer Palaces original artifacts from artwork to handcrafts as well as the personal objects belonging to the emperors and empresses; and
  • Suzhuo Street (Su Zhuo Jie, 苏州街): to the north of Hill of Longevity is based on a canal market street from Suzhuo in south of China, and was originally designed as an area the emperor could wander through to feel as if he were in the outside world. It now acts a market street and is a great place to pick up souvenirs if you bargain hard.

  Around the park there are eight docks that rent out boats in the summer if you want to take to the water. You have the choice of peddle boats, rowing boat or the more relaxing battery powered boats all available for hire. There is also the Dragon Boat Ferry which runs from the Marble Boat over to the island.

  
  
  
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