Summer Palace

Summer Palace 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 the Summer Palace, 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 willow 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 as China crumbled while suffering repeated humiliations at the hands of colonialist powers. The entire gardens were for the Empress Dowager's exclusive use. UNESCO placed the Summer Palace on its World Heritage list in 1998.

Nautical Theme

At the west end of the lake you'll find the Marble Boat, which doesn't actually float and was built by the Dowager Empress Cixi with money meant for the navy.

Highlights

Peer inside the Hall of Benevolent Longevity. This is where Cixi held court and received foreign dignitaries. It is said that the first electric lights in China shone here. Just behind the hall and next to the lake is Hall of Jade Ripples, where Cixi kept the hapless Guangxu under guard while she ran China in his name.

Hire a boat on Kunming Lake. This giant body of water extends southward for 3 km (2 mi); it's ringed by tree-lined dikes, arched stone bridges, and numerous gazebos. In winter, you can skate on the ice. The less-traveled southern shore near Humpbacked Bridge is an ideal picnic spot.

Stroll down the Long Corridor. The ceiling and wooden rafters here are richly painted with thousands of scenes from legends and nature—be on the lookout for Sun Wukong (the Monkey King). The wooden walkway skirts the northern shoreline of Kunming Lake for about half a mile until it reaches the marble boat.

Longevity Hill. Strung with pagodas and temples, including the impressive Tower of the Fragrance of Buddha, Glazed Tile Pagoda, and the Hall that Dispels Clouds, this is the place where you can escape the hordes of visitors—take your time exploring the lovely northern side of the hill.

See how Cixi lived. Her home, in the Hall of Joyful Longevity, is near the beginning of the Long Corridor. The residence is furnished and decorated as Cixi left it. Her private theater, called the Grand Theater Building, just east of the hall, was constructed for her 60th birthday and cost 700,000 taels of silver.

Word of Mouth

"It's easy to visit the Summer Palace on your own. Just ask the hotel to write down your destination in Chinese. When you pay your entrance fee at the gate, you can buy a booklet with a map, which is very useful, as the Palace grounds are very extensive. From there, just stroll as whim takes you. You'll need a good half-day. You can buy a simple lunch near the lake. I suggest you make an early start. Warning: on leaving the palace you'll probably be approached by English-speaking people offering a "metered taxi." The "cab" will be unlicensed and overpriced—just keep walking out to the public street where there'll be genuine licensed cabs waiting—this will be obvious because their rates will be displayed on the rear window, the cabbie will have ID on the dashboard and a fixed meter in the center of the dash."

—Neil_Oz

Did You Know?

Most of this 700-acre park is under water. Kunming Lake makes up around three-fourths of the complex, and is largely man-made. The excavated dirt was used to build Longevity Hill.

Tips

Subway Line 10 will get you pretty close if you take it all the way to Bagou, and then catch a taxi for Y10. Line 4 may be open by the time you read this, and will have a Summer Palace stop. Otherwise, you'll have to take a taxi.

Come early in the morning to get a head start before the busloads of visitors arrive. You'll need the better part of a day to explore the grounds.

Automatic audio guides can be rented for Y40 at stalls near the ticket booth.

Arrive like Cixi did: come to the park by boat. In summer, craft leave every hour from near the Millennium Monument in Xizhimen (on Fuxing Lu), or from near Beijing Zoo. The journey takes about an hour and Y158 gets you onto the boat and into the Summer Palace (010/6858-9215).