A Guide to Summer Palace, Beijing

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Summer Palace (Yíhéyuán 颐和园) is a massive imperial garden covering an area of 297 hectare in the northwest of Beijing, and is one of the must-visit Beijing attractions.

UNESCO inscribed Summer Palace as a Heritage Site in 1998, and said that Summer Palace is a masterpiece of Chinese landscape garden design.

The royal garden has a vast lake, elaborate temples on top of a 60m-tall hill, museum, scenic ancient street by the river, and too many interesting spots to visit in a day.

Spoiler: 1 day is not enough to see everything in Summer Palace! Read my suggested itinerary to help you plan your trip, regardless whether you have 1 day or 2 days.

Please note that some temples are located on top of the hill, so you will have to climb a lot of staircases. If you’re visiting with elderly or young children who can’t climb too many stairs, you might have to skip those places on Longevity Hill.

In this article, I will share important travel information and tips you need to know before visiting Summer Palace in Beijing, based on my own experience visiting the palace recently.

Summer Palace Opening Hours

Summer Palace is open daily, all-year round. However, THE attractions are open from Tuesday to Sunday (closed on Monday, except Public Holidays).

High Season (1 Apr – 31 Oct)	Low Season (1 Nov – 31 Mar)
Gate Open: 6am	Gate Open: 6.30am
Gate Last entry: 7pm	Gate Last entry: 6pm
Gate Close: 8pm	Gate Close: 7pm
Main attractions operating hours: 8am – 6pm (last entry 5.30pm)	Main attractions operating hours: 8.30am – 5pm (last entry 4.30pm)
Audio guide: 8.30am – 6pm	Audio guide: 8.30am – 5.30pm

Summer Palace Entrance Fee

High Season (1 Apr – 31 Oct)	Low Season (1 Nov – 31 Mar)
Admission ticket without attractions: RMB 30	Admission ticket without attractions: RMB 20
Through ticket (Entrance + 4 Attractions): RMB 60	Through ticket (Entrance + 4 Attractions): RMB 50
Tower of Buddhist Incense: RMB 10	Tower of Buddhist Incense: RMB 10
Garden of Virtue and Harmony: RMB 5	Garden of Virtue and Harmony: RMB 5
Suzhou Street: RMB 10	Suzhou Street: RMB 10
Summer Palace Museum: RMB 20	Summer Palace Museum: RMB 20

Note: Remember to bring your passport! You’ll need it to buy tickets!

Ticket sale ends at: 7pm. Through-ticket sale ends at: 3pm

During our visit, we purchased the through ticket (they call it Ticket Package) directly from the counter and paid with AliPay. There was a line, but it wasn’t that long, we waited for maybe about 10 minutes. Your experience may vary. If you’re worried about the long line at ticket counter, you can purchase online ticket in advance.

Getting to Summer Palace

Personally, I prefer to enter from North Palace Gate because there is a direct metro station, and it’s near Suzhou Street.

Summer Palace Brief History

Summer Palace was built by Emperor Qianlong from Qing Dynasty between 1750 and 1764. Its original name was Qingyiyuan (Garden of Clear Ripples).

Kunming Lake is a man-made lake that supplies water to the garden as well as the surrounding agricultural areas. The excavated earth was added to the nearby hill, now known as Longevity Hill.

In the 1860s, Summer Palace was destroyed. Then, it was reconstructed by Emperor Guangxu in 1888 and renamed Yíhéyuán (Garden of Preserving Harmony).

In 1900, Summer Palace was destroyed yet again. Restoration was done in 1902. In 1924, Summer Palace was open as a public park. In 1998, Summer Palace was inscribed as UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Without reading deep into the history, one wouldn’t notice that there was an invisible female power behind Summer Palace and the Qing dynasty. That power belongs to Empress Dowager Cixi and she held it for almost 60 years.

Empress Dowager Cixi is the concubine of Emperor Xianfeng, the mother of Emperor Tongzhi and the aunt of Emperor Guangxu. Summer Palace was re-built by Emperor Guangxu for Empress Dowager Cixi.

Summer Palace Map

When I visited Summer Palace, there are so many types of map all around the palace, there’s no standardization! Furthermore, some of the maps are facing north downwards (not upwards), it’s so frustrating for first-timers like me.

Because Summer Palace is so big, I find that the overall map is useful for pre-trip planning. Meanwhile, when inside the palace, the localized map is helpful for navigation.

Here are several maps that I relied on during my visit to Summer Palace

Summer Palace – Suggested Itinerary & Route

The Palace is so huge! If you want to explore everything in Summer Palace, you will need 2 days. If you only have 1 day, you’ll have to make compromises and visit only the most essential places.

Here are my suggested itineraries for 1 day and 2 days.

Summer Palace One Day Itinerary

• Enter from North Palace Gate
• Visit Suzhou Street
• Visit temples around Longevity Hall, namely: Four Great Region, Hall of the Sea of Wisdom, Tower of Buddhist Incense, Hall of Dispelling Clouds
• Walk along Long Corridor towards the east
• Admire the sceneries at Kunming Lake
• Visit Summer Palace Museum
• Visit Garden of Virtue and Harmony
• Explore Court Area near East Palace Gate, including Hall of Benevolence and Longevity, Hall of Jade Ripples and Yiyun Hall
• Exit from East Palace Gate

Summer Palace Two Day Itinerary:

• Day 1:
  • Enter from North Palace Gate
  • Visit Suzhou Street
  • Visit temples around Longevity Hall, namely: Four Great Region, Hall of the Sea of Wisdom, Tower of Buddhist Incense, Hall of Dispelling Clouds
  • Walk along the Kunming Lake towards the east
  • Visit Summer Palace Museum, Garden of Virtue and Harmony, Hall of Benevolence and Longevity, Hall of Jade Ripples and Yiyun Hall
  • Exit from East Palace Gate
• Day 2
  • Enter from New Palace Gate
  • Visit Bronze Ox, Seventeen-Arch Bridge and South Lake Island
  • Walk along Kunming Lake towards the south
  • Walk along West Causeway
  • Explore Farming and Weaving Scenic Area
  • Visit Marble Boat
  • Exit from North Ruyi Gate or North Palace Gate

Summer Palace Audio Guide

Summer Palace Audio Guide is available at all 6 gates. Here are the prices and operating hours.

Chinese Language	Foreign Language
Fee: RMB 20	Fee: RMB 40
Deposit: RMB 50	Deposit: RMB 50

High Season (1 Apr – 31 Oct)	Low Season (1 Nov – 31 Mar)
Open: 8.30am	Open: 8.30am
Close: 6pm	Close: 5.30pm

What to Do and See at Summer Palace

1. Suzhou Street

Suzhou Street is the first landmark you will encounter if you enter from the North Palace Gate. Admission for Suzhou Street is included in the through ticket. If you did not purchase through ticket/ticket package, you will need to pay RMB 10 to enter Suzhou Street.

Suzhou Street is built to Emperor Qianlong to mimic Suzhou city, known for its canals and bridges. In the past, the Suzhou Street was lined with commercial stores selling goods from Suzhou. It was where the royal family members could do shopping in private.

Suzhou Street is probably my most favorite part of Summer Palace. Every corner is so picturesque. We took almost a hundred photos and had a tough time choosing which photos to be posted on this blog.

There are 2 sides of Suzhou Street: the west side and east side. The walking path is very narrow, so be very careful. Visitors are to walk the Suzhou street in one direction only, which is clockwise.

2. Tower of Buddhist Incense

Tower of Buddhist Incense is the largest structure in Summer Palace and the most expensive to reconstruct in 1888.

Admission for Tower of Buddhist Incense is included in the through ticket. If you did not purchase through ticket/ticket package, you will need to pay RMB 10 to enter Tower of Buddhist Incense.

Located at the front of Longevity Hill, Tower of Buddhist Incense is built on 21m-high stone foundation. The height of the tower is 41m. To get to the tower, you’ll need to climb a lot of steps!

From the top of tower, you can admire the beauty of Kunming Lake, the roof of Hall of Dispelling Cloud, Revolving Archives to the east and Baoyun Pavilion to the west.

In the past, the Empress Dowager Cixi would go to Tower of Buddhist Incense every first and fifteenth day of each lunar month to pray and burn incense sticks.

3. Longevity Hill

Longevity Hill is the 60m-high hill located north of Kunming Lake and south of Suzhou Street. It was constructed using the soil excavated from Kunming Lake.

Around this hill, there are many halls and temples. Several notable ones are Four Great Regions, Hall of the Sea of Wisdom and Hall of Dispelling Clouds.

Four Great Regions

Four Great Regions is the temple located right to the south of Suzhou Street. The architecture is slightly different from other temples in Summer Palace, with the north part in Tibetan style and the south part in Han style. Getting here requires a good amount of workout.

Hall of the Sea of Wisdom

Hall of the Sea of Wisdom is a Buddhist temple cladded in predominantly yellow and green tiles, with 1,008 tiny Buddha statues decorating the outer wall of the building.

Hall of Dispelling Clouds

Hall of Dispelling Clouds is the temple located south of Tower of Buddhist Incense and north of Kunming Lake. Here, you can get a glimpse of the upper part of Tower of Buddhist Incense.

4. Kunming Lake

Kunming Lake is yet another picturesque spot in Summer Palace. The northern part of the lake is bound by the Long Corridor and Longevity Hill. The eastern part is bound by East Causeway.

At the southeastern part of the lake is Nanhu Island (South Lake Island) which is connected to mainland with Seventeen-Arch Bridge. The western part of the lake is bound by West Causeway.

You can ride various types of boat (hand-rowing boat, pedal boat, electric boat or big boat). However, do take note of the operating hours.

5. Summer Palace Museum

Summer Palace Museum is located south of East Palace Gate, next to Wenchang Tower. Admission for Summer Palace Museum is included in the through ticket. If you did not purchase through ticket/ticket package, you will need to pay RMB 20 to enter Summer Palace Museum.

The museum displays various exhibitions, such as history of Chinese character, painting, art, ceramic, music, and artifacts from the Qing dynasty. Not all exhibits have English translation.

6. Garden of Virtue and Harmony

Garden of Virtue and Harmony is located north of Gate of Benevolence and Longevity, near East Palace Gate. It’s quite a challenge for me to find the entrance because the entrance is quite small and can be easily missed out. After going around for some time, I finally noticed that this building has a ticketing gate and it’s manned by a staff, I figured this must be it.

Admission for Garden of Virtue and Harmony is included in the through ticket. If you did not purchase through ticket/ticket package, you will need to pay RMB 5 to enter Garden of Virtue and Harmony.

Garden of Virtue and Harmony is home to the Grand Theatre, the place where Emperor Guangxu and Empress Dowager Cixi watch Peking Opera. Behind the Grand Theatre is the Make-up Building where actors put their costumes and make up on.

At the perimeter of the courtyard, there are chambers with seats called Veranda. This is where Princes and Ministers would be seated when watching Peking Opera at the invitation of Empress Dowager Cixi.

Inside the halls, there are exhibitions about the architecture of imperial buildings. The exhibition is mostly in Chinese, so you might need a translation app if you don’t read Chinese.

7. East Palace Court Area

At the Court Area near East Palace Gate, there are many halls. Several notable ones are Hall of Benevolence and Longevity, Hall of Jade Ripples and Yiyun Hall.

8. Seventeen-Arch Bridge and South Lake Island

South Lake Island (Nanhu Island) is an island located at the southeast of Summer Palace. During the excavation of Kunming Lake, Emperor Qianlong ordered the workers to avoid excavating that area and use that plot of land as an island.

Nanhu Island is connected to the mainland via Seventeen-Arch Bridge (some calls it Seventeen-Holes Bridge).

9. Marble Boat

Marble Boat is a two-storey boat-shaped pavilion located at the northwest part of Kunming Lake. Contrary to its name, Marble Boat is actually made of wood and painted to look like it’s made of marble.

Where to Eat Near Summer Palace

During my visit, I did not encounter any restaurants inside Summer Palace. However, there are plenty of restaurants outside the palace.

At North Palace Gate, there is a convenience store right outside the gate which sells hot food (eg: pancakes, bao, corn, sausages) on top of the usual convenience stall stuffs (eg: mineral water, snacks, cup noodles).

From the North Palace Gate, if you cross the street, there is a row of restaurants. We had our lunch at the KFC there.

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