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Going to the New Summer Palace during winter? You bet!

Just like the Forbidden City tour, this one’s a long day full of walking. This time though it was colder and windier with it being the place where the Imperial Family used to go during summers to cool off and all.

New Summer Palace

The Summer Palace or Yihe Yuan was the summer vacation house of the Imperial Family located in northwestern outskirts of Beijing. It is situated in the Longevity Hill and fronted by the Kunming Lake surrounded by pavilions, halls, palaces, temples and bridges.

GETTING THERE:

The New Summer Palace has three accessible entrances/exits: North, East and South Gate.

• North Gate – Make your way to Beigongmen Station on Line 4
• East Gate – Make your way to Xiyuan Station on Line 4
• South Gate (New Palace Gate) – From Bagou Station on Line 10, take a cab to the South Gate (10 RMB) [Beijing Subway Map]

The most practical way to tour the place is from North Gate to South Gate or vice versa. It would be helpful if you study the map of the place first. [New Summer Palace Map]

We took the South to North path so we will be rewarded with McDonald’s outside the North Gate. Hehehe. It took us 3 hours tops to finish the place including the long climb up the Temple of Buddhist Virtue.

Seventeen-Arch Bridge

From the South Gate, the first thing we saw was the 17-arch bridge. This bridge was built in 1711-1799 to access Nanhu Island where the Dragon King Temple is located.

As we walked north, we saw rows of boats lining the eastern bank that cannot be used due to the semi-frosted lake. You can take a ferry ride on the lake from Nanhu Island which will take you at the west end of the Long Corridor.

Because it’s winter, we weren’t able to take the boat ride on Kunming Lake. It will be a nice way to spend your time there and it will save you time from walking the whole length of the Long Corridor.

Marble Boat

At the west end of the Long Corridor you will see the Marble Boat. It is a non-navigable boat that is made for decoration only where people can seat and enjoy the scenery.

The lake on the west bank dries up during winter and makes the marble boat lose its appeal.

Temple of Buddhist Virtue

Going back to the center of the Long Corridor is the gate going up to the Temple of Buddhist Virtue or the Tower of Buddhist Incense.

To get there, you will go up past the Cloud-Dispelling Hall then up some more past the Hall of Virtuous Brilliance.

When you reach the peak you will be rewarded with a beautiful scene of Kunming Lake and its surroundings. The temple also houses the gilded statue of the Thousand-Hand Guanyin Buddha.

Sea of Wisdom Temple

From the Temple of Buddhist Virtue is a path that lead us to the higher Sea of Wisdom Temple behind it.

It is a building made entirely of colored glaze bricks without any timber beams. There are also 1008 smaller engraved Buddhas surrounding it.

Suzhou Market Street

As you make your way downhill at the rear of the Summer Palace, you will see the supposed-to-be beautiful Suzhou Market Street. During winter, the lake on the rear dries up and it left us with this scene:

During Spring or when the river is flowing here, the streets lined with authentic looking shops would be colorful and the merchants are dressed in old-fashion Chinese garbs.

When you head out off the North Gate, you will see the golden arches of McDonald’s across the street. Or you could take the subway back to the city instead. We chose the latter and ate at the mall.

There are plenty of beautiful places you can take photos in the Summer Palace, I’ll just leave them up for you to find out. It’s a pretty nice place and well worth the long subway trip.

TOTAL COST:

Bagou Subway Station on Line 10: 2 RMB

Taxi to South Gate: 10 RMB

Entrance: 20 RMB (30 RMB during peak season)

There are other places inside that requires a separate entrance fee. If you wish to enter Dehe Garden, Wenchang Hall, Foxiang Tower, Suzhou Street and Danning Hall, the full ticket price would be 50 RMB / 60 RMB.

Part 11: Great Wall of China

You might also be interested in:

• Touring Beijing in Winter Part 12: Old Summer Palace
• Touring Beijing in Winter Part 9: The Egg, Tian’anmen Square and Qianmen Street
• Touring Beijing in Winter Part 7: Temple of Heaven
• Touring Beijing in Winter Part 8: Jingshan Park and Forbidden City

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