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Had an early breakfast and then took subway at about 7.15 am to Xiyuan station.
Summer Palace (颐和园)
The Summer Palace, literally means "Gardens of Nurtured Harmony", is a vast ensemble of lakes, gardens and palaces (photo below). It covers an area of 2.9 square kilometres of which three-quarters is water.
Inspired by Hangzhou's West Lake and adopting design features of gardens from southern China, the Summer Palace is a large landscape garden consists of the Longevity Hill and Kunming Lake. It is also the best-preserved imperial garden and regarded as the "Museum of Imperial Gardens". |
The Summer Palace was listed as World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1998. |
- The originally name of the Palace was 'Qingyi Yuan' (清漪园) which literally means "Garden of Clear Ripples". It was first constructed in 1750 by Emperor Qianlong to celebrate his mother's 60th birthday. However, it was razed to the ground by the Anglo-French Allied Forces in 1860.
Entrance Ticket
- Like all major attractions in China, online reservation is required in order to confirm the entry tickets to the Summer Palace. Following are the three simple steps:
| Three Steps on How to Reserve and Use the E-Ticket(s) | |
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Step 1: Access to Ticket Page
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Step 2: Select the Ticket Type
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Step 3: Scan the Code to Enter
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Getting to the Palace
- There are two subway stations located near the Summer Palace:
- Beigongmen station (北宫门站) of Line 4. Get off from Exit D of the station and walked for about 3-mins to the North Palace Gate.
- Xiyuan station (西苑站) of Line 4 and 16. Get off from Exit C2 of the station and walked for about 10-mins to the East (Main) Palace Gate.
Layout of the Palace
- The entire Summer Palace is centered around Longevity Hill (万寿山) and Kunming Lake (昆明湖). Most important buildings were built along the north-south axis of the Longevity Hill (photo below).
For the ease of categorization, I have divided these buildings into the following sections. Do click on these sections for more descriptions.Imperial Court and Living Area
- This area is located between the East Palace Gate and the northeast coast of Kunming Lake. State affairs were handled in some of the halls whereas others served as living quarters and entertainment areas.
- East Palace Gate (东宫门)
This gate used to be the formal gate to the Palace (left photo below). The plaque on the gate inscribed with the 3 Chinese characters 'Yihe Yuan' (颐和园) was written by Emperor Guangxu which denotes the name of this Summer Palace (right photo below).
The two bronze lions on either side of the gate are preserved from the Emperor Qianlong's time (photos below).
- Hall of Benevolence and Longevity (仁寿殿)
Formerly known as the "Hall of Diligent Government" (勤政殿), the hall was initially built during the reign of Emperor Qianlong in 1750. It was burned down by the Anglo-French Allied Force in 1860. Later, it was restored, and renamed as "Hall of Benevolence and Longevity" during Emperor Guangxu's reign in 1886. It was the place for Empress Dowager Cixi and Emperor Guanxu to meet their ministers and to receive foreign diplomatic envoys during their stay in the Summer Palace (left photo below).
In front of the hall are two pairs of bronze statues of dragons and phoenixes used as incense burners to perfume the air on formal occasions (right photo below). Because the Empress Dowager Cixi, rather than the Emperor, managed the affairs of the state, the phoenix statues which represent the Empress Dowager, lied in the middle of the courtyard. The dragon statues, representing the Emperor, lied to the far side, which was contrary to tradition.
The Stone of God of Longevity (寿星石), located behind the "Gate of Benevolence and Longevity" (仁寿门), was moved from Shaoyuan (勺园) when the Summer Palace was rebuilt in the 12th year of Guangxu's reign (left photo below). It has a clear and moist color and a strange shape like a longevity star. In the middle of the courtyard, there is an exquisitely sculpted bronze beast called a Kylin, with dragon head, lion tail, deer horn, and cattle hoof (right photo below). In legend, the Kylin guards against destruction by fire.
- Hall of Happiness and Longevity (乐寿堂)
Built during the reign of Emperor Qianlong in 1750, the "Hall of Happiness in Longevity" originally had two floors. Burned down by the Anglo-French Allied Forces during Emperor Xianfeng's reign in 1860, it was reconstructed in 1886 by Emperor Guangxu to serve as the living quarters for Empress Dowager Cixi (left photo below). Bronze sculptures of deer, cranes and vase of one pair each are symmetrically arranged in front of the hall (right photo below). This is homophonic to "Liuhe Taiping" (六合太平), which means "cranes and deer spring together, and the world is peaceful".
- Hall of Natural Affinity of Water and Trees (水木自亲殿)
"Hall of Natural Affinity of Water and Trees" is the gate to the "Hall of Happiness and Longevity", with a stone pier and railings in front. Empress Dowager Cixi used to board at this pier when she entered or exited the Summer Palace by water (left photo below). There is a tall light pole on the pier called the "Dragon Light Pole" (龙灯杆). From the construction drawing kept in the National Library of China more than 100 years ago, a large gas lamp was hung high on this pole (right photo below). This was used as a signal that the Empress Dowager Cixi was in the garden.
- Garden of Virtue and Harmony (德和园)
The "Garden of Virtue and Harmony" is part of the Imperial Living Area built with entertainment and leisure facilities. This garden, constructed between 1891 and 1895, contains four courtyards and covers a floor space of over 3,900 square meters.
The "Make-up Building" (扮戏楼) is a two-storey hall (left photo below) with its northern section connected to the Grand Stage. Actors applied make-up here before their performance. The three-storey Grand Stage (大戏楼), at a height of 21-meters, is the second tallest building in the Summer Palace. Props such as a spinning board, windlass and a high-pressure water machine, which makes it possible to enact scenes of gods coming down to earth, apparitions fleeing underground and water spewing forth.
Located opposite the Grand Stage, the "Hall of Nourishing Pleasures" (颐乐殿) was a theatre for Empress Dowager Cixi to watch Beijing Opera (left photo below). Her throne was placed in the center of the hall (right photo below).
💵 Note: Separate admission is required to enter the "Garden of Virtue and Harmony".
Kunming Lake Area
- Kunming Lake is a man-made lake and consists of three scenic areas: East Causeway, West Causeway and Three Islands. Each of the three areas has its own unique features with famous buildings and bridges built around it.
- Heralding Spring Pavilion (知春亭)
Heralding Spring Pavilion is at the east bank of Kunming Lake and on a small island in front of the Wenchang Tower (left photo below). The name of the pavilion derives from the fact that the willow trees there are an early indication of springtime where the leaves begin to grow and turn green. - Spacious Pavilion (廓如亭)
With an area over 130 square meters, this is the most spacious pavilion of its type (right photo below). Octagonal with double eaves, it was also called the "Pavilion of Eight Dimensions". Emperor Qianlong's poems and classical writings were inscribed on a board hanging inside the pavilion.
- West Causeway (西堤)
The long West Causeway stretches from the northwest to the south of the Summer Palace. It divides the lake into three discreet areas each with its own island in the center. The West Causeway was modeled after the Su Causeway in West Lake of Hangzhou during the reign of Emperor Qianlong.
Jingming Tower (景明楼) was built in 1750 and consisted of a main building and two auxiliary buildings. They were destroyed by the British and French in 1860 and were restored only in 1992 (left photo below). It was designed to imitate Yueyang Tower. There are six bridges along the west causeway. Among them, the White Silk Bridge (练桥) was first built during the Qianlong period and rebuilt during the Guangxu period (right photo below). There is a four-corner double-eaves bridge pavilion built on the bridge for viewing and resting.
- South Lake Island (南湖岛)
South Lake Island is about 1-hectare in size and it is the largest island in the Summer Palace (left photo below). The entire island is round in shape and built with huge stone berths and surrounded by white stone railings. It has a broad field of vision and unobstructed views of the beautiful scenery in all directions.
Hanxu Hall (涵虚堂) stands out on a rockery ascent with a platform under the steps in the south (right photo below). This was where Emperor Qianlong used to watch naval exercises and Empress Dowager Cixi enjoyed displays performed by the naval academy.
"Temple of Timely Rains and Extensive Moisture" (广润灵雨祠) is one of the oldest buildings in the Summer Palace built in the Ming dynasty (left photo below). Its name was changed several times by Emperor Qianlong and Emperor Jiaqing. Also known as the "Temple of the Dragon King", the temple was built on the ruins of the Temple of Dragon God in the Ming Dynasty (right photo below). Its function was praying for rain.
- Seventeen-Arch Bridge (十七孔桥)
Connecting the eastern shore of Kunming Lake and South Lake Island in the west, the Seventeen-Arch Bridge was built during the reign of Emperor Qianlong. There are some thirty bridges in the Summer Palace and this is the largest one, with a length of 150-meters and a width of 8-meters. View of the bridge was taken from the Wenchang Tower (left photo below) and from the South Lake Island (right photo below).
On each end of the bridge is a carved bizarre beast which looks like "kylin" (left photo below). In addition, there are 544 distinctive lions on the columns of the white marble parapets (right photo below).
- Bronze Ox (铜牛)
A life-size bronze ox, cast in 1755, was set on a bluestone wave-lined pedestal overlooking the east shore of Kunming Lake (left photo below). On its back is the inscription of eighty-word ode entitled 'Inscription on the Golden Ox' written by Emperor Qianlong explaining the significance of this bronze ox (right photo below). The ox was placed on the bank of the lake in hopes of preventing the flood forever.
- Tower of Literary Prosperity (文昌阁)
Tower of Literary Prosperity is the largest of the six city gates in the Summer Palace. Built in 1750 during the reign of Emperor Qianlong, the original pavilion was three-storey but it was burned down by the British and French forces in 1860. During the Guangxu period, it was rebuilt into a two-story pavilion, with one less eaves and lower height than the original one (photos below).
💵 Note: Separate admission is required to enter the "Summer Palace Museum".
- Used to be known as "Gallery of Literary Prosperity" (文昌院), it is now named as "Summer Palace Museum" that exhibits priceless relics from the collection of the Imperial Qing Court (left photo below). The museum is divided into four exhibition themes including jade articles, porcelain vessels, potted gemmed flowers as well as clocks and music boxes (right photo below).
The area was originally an Imperial Kitchen for Emperor Guangxu, but gradually became deserted during the Republican Era. In 1998, it was decided to turn this area into a museum and built with traditional courtyard style to blend with the surrounding buildings (photos below).
The exhibition halls are fully air-conditioned and spacious with sufficient lightings (photos below).
Following is the complied clip on the cultural relics exhibited (video below).- At the front of the hill there are lots of traditional Chinese buildings from the foot to the top.
- Long Corridor (长廊)
The Long Corridor is a covered walkway of 728-meters in length and famous for its rich painted decorations of more than 14,000 paintings (photos below). It is recorded in the Guinness World Records to be the 'longest covered wooden corridor'.
First built in 1750, the corridor was constructed so that Emperor Qianlong's mother could enjoy a walk through the gardens protected from the elements. The corridor was severely damaged in fire by the Anglo-French allied forces in 1860. Later it was rebuilt in 1888.
The corridor leads from the "Gate for Greeting the Moon" (邀月门) in the east westwards (left photo below) along the northern shore of Kunming Lake, and ends in "Stone Old Man Pavilion" (石丈亭) in the west. Based on the crossbeams under the roof, the corridor is divided into 273 sections. Along the path, there are four octagonal pavilions with double eaves that symbolizes the four seasons (right photo below).
The Long Corridor is richly decorated with paintings on the beams and the ceiling. The paintings mainly depicted episodes from Chinese classical literature and folk tales. Each of the four pavilions has two major paintings above its doorways. Managed to took photos of the two paintings, namely the "The Tale of the Peach-Blossom Land" (桃花源記) on the discovery of 'Peach Spring beyond this world' (世外桃源) (left photo below), and the "Zhang Fei's fight with Ma Chao" (张飞夜战马超) based on the novel "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" (right photo below).
Both sides of the corridor also painted using classic tales and literature, such as the episode on 'battle with white bone demon' (三打白骨精) from the novel "Journey to the West" (left photo below) and the 'meeting of the cowherd and weaver girl' (牛郎织女鹊桥相会) from the classic tale (right photo below).
- Hall of Dispelling Clouds (排云殿)
Situated on the front of the central axis of Longevity Hill. Originally the Great Temple of Gratitude and Longevity (大報恩延壽寺) built by Emperor Qianlong for his mother's 60th birthday, it was burned down in 1860 and rebuilt by Emperor Guangxu in 1892. This place became a place for Empress Dowager Cixi to receive guests, host grand ceremonies, and celebrate her birthday.
After passing through the "Gate of Dispelling Clouds" (排云门) (left photo below) is the first courtyard. The "Hall of Dispelling Clouds" is the main hall of the building complex and located behind the second courtyard (right photo below).
This courtyard is on a raised terrace with marble balusters. It has a broad platform with steps in three directions. There is one pair each of bronze dragons (left photo below), phoenixes (right photo below), and three-footed vessels, as well as four bronze vats symmetrically on two sides under the terrace.
Furnishings in the Hall of Dispelling Clouds remain 'festive' as they originally were for celebrations of Empress Dowager Cixi's birthday. Although the treasures on display inside are fewer than those in the "Hall of Benevolence and Longevity", some of them are more valuable (photos below).
- Tower of Buddhist Incense (佛香阁)
Located right in the centre of the front hill of Longevity Mountain. The tower was originally meant to be a nine-storey Buddhist pagoda built to resemble the Yellow Crane Tower. The Qianlong Emperor ordered the construction to be stopped just after the eighth storey was built. Like many buildings in the Summer Palace, this largest individual structure in the park was destroyed and rebuilt later during the reign of Emperor Guangxu.
The tower was built on a 20-meters tall stone foundation (left photo below), it measures three storeys and 41-metres in height (right photo below).
There are eight big ironwood pillars supporting the tower and has a plaque hanging in each level of the tower (left photo below). A gilded statue of the thousand-handed Guanyin Bodhisattva stands inside on the first floor. According to the record, this statue at five-meters high and five-tons in weight, was cast in bronze and gilded with gold during the reign of Emperor Wanli of the Ming Dynasty (right photo below).
The building was built on the mountain side 60-meters above water level and offered a wider perspective of the beautiful scenery around Kunming Lake and even further (photo below).
- Situated on the west of the hill, there are many traditional Chinese pavilions and halls.
- Marble Boat (石舫)
Located on the west side at the northern end of Kunming Lake. It was originally built in 1775, formerly was a Chinese-style wooden superstructure on top of it. It was burned down in 1860 and was rebuilt in 1893 by Empress Dowager Cixi in a foreign-style. Inlaid with colorful glass windows and wheels, and paved with colored bricks, the boat is 36-meters long, and two stories and 8-meters high (photos below). It is the only Western-style structure in the park.
- Floating Heart Plant Bridge (荇桥)
Located north of the Marble Boat, this bridge is considered the western starting point of Back Lake. A double-eaves pavilion straddles the bridge and four life-like stone lions sit on the bridge piers (left photo below). Memorial archways standing on each end of the bridge (right photo below).
Rear of Longevity Hill
- The rear of Longevity Hill is quiet compared to the Front Hill Area. Most constructions were never able to be repaired after the wars, only a few ruins are left.
- Suzhou Street (苏州街)
Originally called Business Street, it was built in the style of South China towns during Emperor Qianlong's reign from 1736 till 1795. This allowed Emperors and Empresses to pretend to go shopping as ordinary people. It was burned to the ground by the Anglo-French Allied Forces in 1860 and restored in 1990. More than 60 businesses, including a teahouse, a restaurant, a pharmacy, a bank, a hat store, a jewellery store and a grocery store, operated on the bank presenting a concentrated illustration of commercialism in South China towns in the 18th century (photos below).
- Four Great Regions (四大部洲)
Located on the centre of the central axis of the back hill, the Four Great Regions was designed to resemble the Samye Monastery in Tibet and currently the largest Tibetan Buddhist buildings in Beijing. It was destroyed by the British and French in 1860 but was restored later in 2011 (left photo below). - North Palace Gate (北宫门)
North Palace Gate is one of the important palace gates in the Summer Palace which is located at the north of Suzhou Market Street. It is a two-storey building with a gable roof (right photo below). Emperor Qianlong used to inspect troops of Eight Banners at this gate tower.
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One new way of to explore the Summer Palace is to collect its associated stamps. These ink stamps can be found in some tourist souvenir shops, eateries or restaurants. They definitely make good momentos as they are creative in design and do not require any luggage space. Following were some of the ink stamps I got in the park (photos below).
Total of more than 40 unique ink stamps can be found throughout the Summer Palace. Here are some of the places that have free ink stamps available as a reference.(东门客服中心) |
(仁寿堂文创) |
| • Souvenir Shop of Garden of Virtue and Harmony (德和园文创) |
• Stationery Shop opposite Heralding Spring Pavilion (知春亭对面文具店) |
| • Souvenir Shop opposite Marble Boat (石舫对面文创) |
• Yanqing Shang Tower (延清赏楼) |
| • Tea House opposite Chenghuai Pavilion (澄怀阁对面茶楼) |
• Qingke Pavilion (清可轩) |
| • Souvenir Shop of Yishou Hall (益寿堂文创) |
• North Gate Tour Kiosk (北宫门导游庭) |
- Reason is to revisit the Summer Palace was to explore new areas as I had missed most of the sights during my visit in 2009. However the park is so huge that I only managed to visit only about 60% of the area this time.
- About 1.5 Hours:East Palace Gate → Hall of Benevolence and Longevity → Garden of Virtue and Harmony → Hall of Jade Ripples → Yiyun Hall → Hall of Happiness and Longevity → Long Corridor → Gate of Dispelling Clouds → East Palace Gate
- About 2.5 Hours:East Palace gate → Hall of Benevolence and Longevity → Garden of Virtue and Harmony → Hall of Jade Ripples → Yiyun Hall → Hall of Happiness and Longevity → Summer Palace Museum → Long Corridor → Hall of Dispelling Clouds → Tower of Buddhist Incense → Suzhou Street → North Palace Gate
- About 4 Hours:East Palace gate → Hall of Benevolence and Longevity → Garden of Virtue and Harmony → Hall of Jade Ripples → Yiyun Hall → Hall of Happiness and Longevity → Summer Palace Museum → Bronze Ox → East Causeway → Long Corridor → Hall of Dispelling Clouds → Tower of Buddhist Incense → Suzhou Street → North Palace Gate
Following are the suggested routes based on time schedule:
Left the Summer Palace at about 1.20 pm.
| 🎫 Summer Palace (颐和园) | |
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| Website: | https://www.summerpalace-china.com/English |
| Access: | ☑ North Palace Gate: exit D of Beigongmen station (北宫门站) of Line 4 ☑ East Palace Gate: exit C2 of Xiyuan station (西苑站) of Line 4 and 16 |
| Opening Hours: | Opening hours of the Park: 0600 to 1900 hours (Apr to Oct) or 0630 to 1800 hours (Nov to Mar). Opening hours of Attractions: 0800 to 1730 hours (Apr to Oct) or 0830 to 1630 hours (Nov to Mar). |
| Admission: | ☑ General Admission: CNY 30 (Apr to Oct) / CNY 20 (Nov to Mar). (see note below) ☑ Combined Ticket: CNY 60 (Apr to Oct) / CNY 50 (Nov to Mar). Note: Seperate admission require for Suzhou Street: CNY 10, Tower of Buddhist Incense: CNY 10, Garden of Virtue and Harmony: CNY 5, Summer Palace Museum: CNY 20. |
Thereafter took subway to "Nanlougu Xiang" station.