Summer Palace Review

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Summer Palace

  • Address: Yiheyuan Lu and Kunminghu Lu, 12 km (7½ mi) northwest of downtown Beijing, Haidian District, Beijing
  • Phone: 010/6288-1144
  • www.summerpalace-china.com

Fodor's Review:

Emperor Qianlong commissioned this giant royal retreat for his mother's 60th birthday in 1750. Anglo-French forces plundered, then burned, many of the palaces in 1860 and funds were diverted from China's naval budget for the renovations. Empress Dowager Cixi retired here in 1889. Nine years later, she imprisoned her nephew, Emperor Guangxu, after his reform movement failed. In 1903, she moved the seat of government from the Forbidden City to Yiheyuan from which she controlled China until her death in 1908.

Nowadays, the place is undoubtedly romantic. Pagodas and temples perch on hillsides; rowboats dip under arched stone bridges; and willows branches brush the water. The greenery provides a welcome relief from the loud, bustling city. It's also a fabulous history lesson. You can see firsthand the results of corruption: the opulence here was bought with siphoned money. The entire gardens were for Dowager's exclusive use. UNESCO placed the Summer Palace on its World Heritage list in 1998.

  • Cost: Apr.-Oct. Y50 and Nov.-Mar. Y40 for all exhibits; Apr.-Oct. Y30 and Nov.-Mar. Y20 for everything except the Garden of Virtue & Harmony, Suzhou Street Hall of Serenity, and Wenchang Gallery
  • Open: Daily 6:30—8 (ticket office closes at 6 PM)
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