Summer Palace

Three-quarters of the Summer Palace is water. The Qing emperors who built and rebuilt Yiheyuan on Beijing's northwestern edge dug Kunming Lake ever wider and piled the spoil onto Longevity Hill, then draped the hill with pavilions, temples and a covered walkway so the whole 300-hectare composition reads like a landscape painting you can walk into. It was the court's escape from the Forbidden City's summer heat, Empress Dowager Cixi's favourite residence, and since 1998 a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is also, hour for hour, the most restorative half-day in Beijing.

What to see

The centrepiece is the Tower of Buddhist Incense (Foxiang Ge), the octagonal tower on Longevity Hill with the postcard view over the lake. Along the hill's foot runs the Long Corridor, a 728-metre covered walkway whose beams carry more than 14,000 painted scenes from Chinese history and legend, the longest painted corridor in the world. By the water sit the Marble Boat, a lakeside folly in stone, and the Seventeen-Arch Bridge reaching out to South Lake Island.

Behind the hill, Suzhou Street recreates a southern canal town in miniature, all little shopfronts and stone bridges over the back lake. The Garden of Virtue and Harmony holds a three-storey imperial theatre built for Cixi's opera habit, and the Wenchang Gallery shows pieces from the palace collection.

Hours and tickets

As of 2026 the park runs two seasonal schedules. In peak season (April 1 to October 31) the gates open at 6:00 with last entry at 19:00 and closing at 20:00. In the off-season (November 1 to March 31) it is 6:30, last entry 18:00, closing 19:00. The garden-within-a-garden sites (Tower of Buddhist Incense, Suzhou Street, the Garden of Virtue and Harmony, the museum) keep shorter hours and close on Mondays outside public holidays, so plan around them if they matter to you.

Basic park entry is cheap, and a combined ticket adding the interior sites costs a little more and is the better value if you want to climb the tower and walk Suzhou Street; check current prices when you book. Tickets are released a few days ahead on the official Summer Palace WeChat account, and foreign visitors can book there with a passport, or reserve through an international platform such as Trip.com and enter with the same passport at the gate. Weekends and holiday dates can sell out, so lock in busy days early.

Getting there

Subway Line 4 serves both main approaches: Beigongmen station (Exit D) puts you at the North Palace Gate, and Xiyuan station is a short walk from the East Palace Gate, the main entrance near the grand halls. A taxi or Didi from central Beijing takes roughly 40 to 60 minutes depending on traffic. A route that avoids backtracking: enter at the North Gate, drift through Suzhou Street, cross the hill past the tower, then follow the Long Corridor and lakeshore out to the East Gate, or walk it in reverse.

When to go

Spring (April to May) brings peach and magnolia blossom; autumn (September to October) gives the clearest skies and golden foliage doubled in the lake, the most photogenic window of the year. Summer is green but hot and busy. In winter Kunming Lake often freezes, the crowds thin, and the bare willows give the place a stark, old-Beijing beauty; dress for the wind off the ice.

Practical tips

Give it three to four hours minimum; the grounds are vast and you cover them on foot. Arriving at opening puts you on the hill before the tour groups, and the light on the lake is best early and late. In the warmer months a dragon-boat ferry crosses Kunming Lake, a pleasant way to rest your legs and see Longevity Hill from the water. Bring water and sun protection in summer; shade between the big sights is patchier than the garden setting suggests.