The Royal Garden Museum- The Summer Palace

The Summer Palace is formerly Qingyi Park. It is located in the western part of Beijing and near to the Old Summer Palace. It was built in 1750 during the reign of emperor Qianlong of the Qing dynasty.

The Summer Palace was built by taking Hangzhou West Lake as an original version, using longevity hill and Kunming Lake as base, and combining Jiangnan garden design. The Summer Palace is the largest and best-preserved imperial palace garden in China. It is also known as the "Royal Garden museum". 

The main attractions can be divided into three regions: First, The Renshou house as the representative of the political activities area, it is the main place for Emperor Guangxu and Empress Dowager Cixi to work by the end of Qing dynasty. Second, Jade Ripples as the representative of the living area, it is Emperor Guangxu’s living quarters. Third, entertainment area, it is composed of Rear Hill, West Mountain. There are many famous places in this area, such as: Long Gallery, Seventeen-Arch Bridge, West Causeway, Suzhou Market Street. 

Among these places, I strongly recommend Long Gallery. It is the longest gallery in all of the ancient gardens in China. It is 728 meters long. There, you can appreciate a lot of Qing Dynasty famous paintings and this gallery also can link most spots of the Summer Palace. 

By the way, the Summer Palace and the Old Summer Palace are not same gardens. The design styles are also different. The Old Summer Palace is a good combination of Chinese and Western garden. In the Old Summer Palace, it has a lot of Western architecture. However, the Summer Palace is pure Chinese ancient style. 

Opening Hours:
7:00-17:00 Nov.1 - Mar.31 (next year) 

6:30-18:00 Apr.1 - Oct.31

Address：
19 Xin Jian Gong Road, Haidian District, Beijing

How to get there:

By subway

Take Subway Line 4 get off at Beigongmen Station.

By bus

1. Take bus 209, 330, 331, 332, 346, 394, 712, 718, 726, 732, 696, 683, 801, 808, 817 or 826 and get off at Yiheyuan Station and then walk west to the East Palace Gate.

2. Take bus 469 or 539 and get off at Yiheyuan West Palace Gate Station.

3. Take bus 303, 346, 375, 384, 393, 634 or 834 and get off at Yiheyuan North Palace Gate Station.


Image Attribution: All images from Baidu lvyou