Summer Palace, an Imperial Garden in Beijing

The Summer Palace: Beijing’s Best Day Out, Especially in Autumn

Empress Dowager Cixi redirected naval funds to restore the Summer Palace in 1888. The story is told with varying amounts of outrage depending on the source; what resulted is 3,000 hectares of lakes, gardens, temples, and pavilions on the northwestern outskirts of Beijing that remain one of the most impressive imperial landscape gardens in the world. The original construction began under Emperor Qianlong in 1750. The British and French sacked and partially burned it in 1860. Cixi rebuilt it with money that was supposed to fund the navy; the Chinese navy subsequently lost the First Sino-Japanese War. The moral complexity is left to the visitor.

Getting There

Metro Line 4 terminates at Beigongmen station, which is the north gate and the sensible entry point. The journey from central Beijing takes about 40 minutes and costs 4 yuan. Taxis from the city centre run 50 to 80 yuan depending on traffic. Entry is 30 yuan; the comprehensive ticket covering the major pavilions and the Tower of Buddhist Incense is 60 yuan and worth it on a first visit. Online booking is advisable for holidays and weekends.

How to Spend the Time

Enter via the North Gate and turn right (east) before the lakefront. This takes you toward Suzhou Street, a reconstructed Qing-dynasty canal market the emperors used as an entertainment district. It is slightly theatrical but interesting and, crucially, most visitors miss it entirely by walking straight to the lake.

Come back to the north shore and walk the Long Corridor. All 728 metres of it. The ceiling and beams are painted with over 14,000 scenes from Chinese history, legend, and landscape. Most visitors walk it quickly. It deserves slower attention. The corridor ends near the Marble Boat, a lakeside pavilion built partly in stone, completed in Cixi’s renovation. It cannot float. The photographs of it at sunset are extremely good.

The Tower of Buddhist Incense (Foxiang Ge) sits on Longevity Hill and is visible from almost everywhere in the complex. The climb is about 120 steps from the base. The view from the top takes in the full extent of Kunming Lake and, on clear autumn days, the Western Hills beyond. Air quality in Beijing varies enormously: October and November typically give the best visibility.

Kunming Lake

The lake covers three-quarters of the total Summer Palace area. Rowing boats hire for around 70 to 100 yuan per hour from several jetties. The Seventeen Arch Bridge connects the south shore to Nanhu Island; walking across it puts you away from the main crowd concentration. In January and February in cold years, the lake freezes and people skate on it, which is one of the more unusual Beijing winter experiences.

Timing

The Summer Palace on a summer weekend is genuinely unpleasant. Arrive at opening – 6:30am in summer, 7am in winter – or go on a weekday. The first hour before tour groups arrive is when the complex is actually peaceful and the Long Corridor is walkable without negotiating the press of bodies. Autumn is the best season: the trees turn gold from mid-October, the air cleans up, and the crowds thin by late October.

Eating

The restaurant inside the grounds is overpriced and ordinary. The Beigongmen area outside the north gate has noodle restaurants and dumpling shops that are much better value. The Suzhou Street snack stalls selling sesame flatbreads and roasted nuts work fine for a walking lunch.