Beijing Summer Palace: The best sites to see

Day 9

We have come to the last day of our China tour and we had to catch the flight home to Singapore at 4.30pm. We still have time to visit one last attraction in the morning, which will be the Summer Palace (颐和园). We first checked out of the hotel and stored our luggage at the reception. We then travel via the MRT from Andingmen Station (安定门) to Beigongmen Station (北宫门). The whole area is very large and the route we have planned is to enter the attraction from the Northern Palace Gate then exit from the Eastern Palace Gate.


Summer Palace (颐和园)

The Summer Palace (颐和园) serves as an imperial garden during the ancient Chinese dynasties, first built by the Jin dynasty, then later further expanded during Yuan, Ming and more notably the Qing dynasty. It centred around the Longevity Hill (万寿山) and Kunming Lake (昆明湖). Many popular buildings and landscapes are located on the slope of the front hill, the rear hill and around the Kunming Lake (昆明湖). The current name Yiheyuan (颐和园) was given by the Qing Emperor Guangxu (光绪皇帝). The Summer Palace (颐和园) should not be confused with the Old Summer Palace (圆明园), which is located nearby east to it. The Summer Palace (颐和园) suffered similar fate as the Old Summer Palace (圆明园) during the Second Opium War, where large parts of the palace were destroyed by the British and French Allied forces. Efforts and resources had been spent on the repair and restoration of the Summer Palace (颐和园), thus visitors won't be able to see any ruins today.

Once we alighted at Beigongmen Station (北宫门), it was still some walking distance to the ticket office at the Northern Palace Gate. We purchased the through ticket to allow access to all the attractions. At the entrance, there were many independent tour guides that offered tour guide services, thus visitors could engage one of them to tour the palace.

Summer Palace Northern Palace Gate

Summer Palace entrance tickets

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Shortly after the entrance, we reached the Suzhou Street (苏州街). The Suzhou Street (苏州街) was built by Qing Emperor Qianlong (乾隆皇帝) to resemble the Jiangnan waterway shopping street. Over here, there are retails shops, restaurants and tea houses by the side of the waterway. It was an unique experience walking the along narrow pathway around the shops. Visitors could also take the boat ride here to the Kunming Lake (昆明湖).

View at Suzhou Street

Boat ride to the Kunming Lake

Panoramic view of Suzhou Street

After the Suzhou Street (苏州街), we continued south towards a square. From here, we started to climb uphill, the rear hill of Longevity Hill (万寿山).

Way up to the Four Great Regions

There's a temple here, known as the Four Great Regions (四大部洲). It was built to resemble the Tibetan Samye Monastery (桑耶寺). Further uphill, we came to the highest point of Longevity Hill (万寿山) where the Sea of Wisdom Temple (智慧海) is located. It's a temple dedicated to Guanyin (Goddess of Mercy) and the temple's wall is very eye-catching with coloured shining wall bricks. From here onward, it is downhill on the font hill of Longevity Hill (万寿山).

Sea of Wisdom Temple

The next striking building we could see is the Tower of Buddhist Incense (佛香阁). It is an eight storey high pagoda built by Qing Emperor Qianlong (乾隆皇帝) to resemble the Yellow Crane Tower (黄鹤楼) in Wuhan.

Tower of Buddhist Incense

Pavilions near the Tower of Buddhist Incense

Entrance to the Tower of Buddhist Incense

It was also been mentioned that the Qing Empress Dowager Ci'xi (慈禧太后) would come here to pray every first and fifteenth day of the lunar month. From here, we got to see the magnificent panoramic view of the entire Kunming Lake (昆明湖).

View of Kunming Lake from Tower of Buddhist Incense

Panoramic view of Kunming Lake

View of South Lake Island

We climbed down the steep staircase down towards the Hall of Moral Glory (德輝殿), which is the place where the emperor and empress rest and change clothing before they pray to the Buddha.

Hall of Moral Glory

Further down is the Hall of Dispelling Clouds (排云殿), which was the place where Qing Empress Dowager Ci'xi (慈禧太后) received guests and held ceremonies to celebrate her birthday. There are many treasures on exhibit display, which were the gifts for the Empress Dowager's birthday. We exited the area and came to the courtyard area with stone arch bridge over rectangular pond. This is where visitors could get a good view of the Hall of Dispelling Clouds (排云殿) against the backdrop of the Tower of Buddhist Incense (佛香阁).

Entrance of Hall of Dispelling Clouds

Passing through the Gate of Dispelling Clouds (排云门), we could see the Glowing Clouds and Holy Land Archway (云辉玉宇牌坊) just in front the bank of Kunming Lake (昆明湖).

Over here, we realised the area is much more crowded with tourists than uphill the Longevity Hill (万寿山). We rested a while and continued eastward along the Long Corridor (长廊) towards the East Courtyard area. The Long Corridor (长廊) contains many decorations and paintings of famous Chinese places, mythology and novels. It's worth to stroll along here to enjoy them. At the East Courtyard, there are several halls that used to serve as the residence and administrative buildings for the emperor and the empress dowager. The first one we passed by was the Hall of Happiness and Longevity (乐寿堂). This was the living quarter of Qing Empress Dowager Ci'xi (慈禧太后) when she visited the Summer Palace (颐和园). Just in front of the hall, there's a big strange stone that is believed to be auspicious.

Hall of Happiness and Longevity

Another 3 popular buildings closer to the Eastern Palace Gate are the Hall of Jade Ripples (玉澜堂), Hall of Benevolence and Longevity (仁寿殿), and the Garden of Virtue and Harmony (德和园). The Hall of Jade Ripples (玉澜堂) was the place where Qing Emperor Guangxu (光绪皇帝) was put on house arrest by Empress Dowager Ci'xi (慈禧太后), after his failed Hundred Days Reform. The Garden of Virtue and Harmony (德和园) consist of the 3 storey high Grand Theatre (大戏楼), where the emperor and empress dowager watched Peking opera. The Hall of Benevolence and Longevity (仁寿殿) was the place where the emperor and empress dowager managed the court affairs. Further east of this area, there's an exhibition hall known as the Gallery of Literary Prosperity (文昌院), where many of the imperial treasures from the Summer Palace (颐和园) are on display.

Map of Summer Palace near the Eastern Palace Gate

There's much more area around the Kunming Lake (昆明湖) that we had not explore due to time constraints. We left the Summer Palace (颐和园) via the Eastern Palace Gate at around noon time and walked towards the Xiyuan Station (西苑). Just before reaching the MRT station, we had our lunch at the MacDonald's nearby.


Goodbye Beijing

After lunch, we took the MRT back to Imperial Courtyard Hotel (北京花园十六号酒店) to collect our luggage from the reception. We followed the reverse way to how came from the airport on Day 1, by taking the Airport Express Railway from Dongzhimen Station (东直门) to Beijing Capital International Airport Terminal 3 Station. Once we reached the station, we returned the Yikatong (一卡通) to refund the remaining amount in the card. From here, it's time to bid farewell to Beijing. In concluding the entire trip, my wife and I were pleased that we had completed most of the activities according to the plan and within budget. It had been a very enriching cultural and historical learning for us, and we look forward to future free and easy trips to China again.



Follow the links below to the other days of my China tour:

Day 1: Beijing (Yonghe Lama Temple, Shizhahai, Prince Gong Mansion, Behai Park, Gui Jie)

Day 2: Beijing (Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, Old Summer Palace, Wangfujing)

Day 3: Tianjin (Italian Style Town, Nanshi Food Street, Drum Tower, Ancient Cultural Street, Quanjude Peking Roast Duck)

Day 4: Xi'an (Muslim Street, Drum Tower, Bell Tower, Xi'an City Wall, Defu Alley)

Day 5: Xi'an (Terracotta Army Museum, Da Ci'en Temple, Big Wild Goose Pagoda, Tang Paradise)

Day 6: Huashan

Day 7: Beijing (Temple of Heaven, Silk Street)

Day 8: Beijing (Great Wall - Badaling, Ming 13 Tombs - Ding Ling, Shizhahai)

Day 9: Beijing (Summer Palace)

Independent travel guide to Great Wall (Badaling) and Ding Ling (Ming 13 Tombs)

Period of Travel: September 2015

Day 8

On this day, we would make a visit to 2 UNESCO World Heritage Sites located outside the urban Beijing city centre, the Badaling section of Great Wall (长城 - 八达岭) and the Ding Ling (定陵) [one of the Ming 13 Tombs (明十三陵)]. We took an early MRT train ride to Xizhimen Station (西直门), which is not far away from Andingmen Station (安定门). The Xizhimen Station (西直门) is directly linked to the Beijing North Railway Station (北京北站), which we bought the next available tickets (paid by Yikatong (一卡通)) for the Suburban Line S2. By this time, we could already see a long queue outside the gate to the S2 train. Once the gate was opened for boarding, the crowd simply rushed towards the train to grab the seats, since it was free seating. We were lucky to get our seats too and soon all the seats were occupied, while the rest of the passengers had to stand. The train ride to Badaling (八达岭) station is more than an hour, and most passengers will only alight at the Badaling (八达岭) station, thus it's better to be seated!

Great Wall - Badaling (长城 - 八达岭)

The Great Wall of China (万里长城) is a series of fortification walls built by the ancient Chinese states against raids by the nomadic tribes from the north of Central Plain. The earlier wall sections were built during Warring States era and more famously by Qin Shi Huang (秦始皇), the first Emperor of China. Only few sections of the wall during that period survived. The wall that we see today is mainly repaired and widely expanded during the Ming dynasty. There are a number of wall sections near to Beijing that tourists could visit. The well preserved and more tourist friendly sections are Badaling (八达岭), Mutianyu (慕田峪) and Juyongguan (居庸关), but they are also the place with many tourists. The less restored sites are Simatai (司马台) and Jinshanling (金山岭), where they have lesser tourist crowd.

We reached the Badaling (八达岭) station at around 9.45am and almost everyone alighted here. Once outside the station, we found the weather much cooler than the city centre and the air was foggy.

Arrived Badaling Railway Station

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From the train station, we had to walk for another 15-20 min to reach the ticket office. The entrance ticket also includes a "Hero Certificate", which you can write down your name to certify you had climbed the Great Wall.

Badaling Great Wall entrance ticket and the Hero Certificate

As we approached the main entrance, the whole area was getting foggier. This became the biggest disappointment for our entire China tour. The visibility was poor and thus we were not able to see the magnificent view of the Great Wall winding along the lush green mountain range. Nevertheless, we still went ahead to climb the wall.

Declaration for The Great Wall of China as New 7 Wonders of the World

We only planned to climb the northern section, starting from No.1 North Tower at around 10.30am. From No. 1 to No. 8 North Tower (highest point), the climb is uphill. Initially the slope is still gentle, but from No. 3 North Tower onward, the slope and stairs are steeper, which we had to make frequent rests.

Entrance to the Northern Towers

Thick fog at the Great Wall

We took around an hour to reach No. 8 North Tower. Over here, we could find the cable station which allows those who are not physically fit to come up via the cable car to enjoy the view at the highest point.

Badaling Great Wall No. 8 North Tower

We rested for a while before we descend the wall towards the No. 12 North Tower. Throughout this section, it was less crowded. The slope is very steep here and we had to hold tight to the railing while descending the steps. It took us another 45min before we reached the No. 12 North Tower and exited the wall.

Descending down the steep steps towards No. 12 North Tower

From the wall, the road led us to a place where there's many merchant stalls selling souvenirs, food and drinks. Along the way, we also passed by a Bear Park, with many sun bears in enclosure. Visitors could also buy food to feed the bears.

Sun bears at the Bears Park

After some time, we reached the Bus Terminal, where we had our lunch at the food court. After our lunch, we waited for the Bus 879 to our next destination.

Ming 13 Tombs - Ding Ling (明十三陵 - 定陵)

Ming 13 Tombs (明十三陵) refers to the collection of imperial tombs of the 13 Ming dynasty emperors and their royal family members around the foot of Tianshou Mountain (天寿山). The entire region is very large, which in addition to the tombs, also consists of the 7km long Sacred Way (神道). Out of all the tombs, only 3 of them [Chang Ling (长陵), Ding Ling (定陵) and Zhao Ling (昭陵)] are opened to public, along with the Sacred Way (神道). Chang Ling (长陵) is the most famous one, as its complex is the largest and most elaborated, as well as the owner [Emperor Yongle (永乐皇帝)] is also the most popular and respected among the Ming emperors. However, we did not visit Chang Ling (长陵), but only Ding Ling (定陵) instead. This is because Ding Ling (定陵) is the only tomb that has been fully excavated and visitors could enter the underground palace. There are more things to see as compared to the other two, which visitors only get to see the exterior. Ding Ling (定陵) is the burial tomb of Emperor Wanli (万历皇帝) and his two empresses, Empress Xiaoduanxian (孝端显皇后) and Empress Xiaojing (孝靖皇后).

From the Great Wall Badaling (八达岭) bus terminal, we took the ride on Bus 879 for around an hour to Ding Ling (定陵). The same Bus 879 will terminate at the Chang Ling (长陵) and the Ding Ling (定陵) station is the second last stop. Once we alighted, it was just a short walk to the ticket office to buy the entrance tickets.

Ming 13 Tombs - Ding Ling entrance tickets

Ding Ling Tomb Museum

Introduction of Ming 13 Tombs

Introduction of Ding Ling

By this time, the sky started to drizzle, the first rain for my China tour so far. We walked through the large rectangular shape court yard, where we passed by the ruins of Ling'en Gate (祾恩门) and Ling'en Hall (祾恩殿). We did not see any structure at all, except for the platform that was still visible. The rest of the structures were already destroyed. After this is the Lingxing Gate (棂星门), which is still standing after restoration. Over here, we could see the Five Offerings (五供) for sacrificial offerings.

Five Offerings with the Soul Tower at the back

There're two exhibition halls over here, one on the left and the other on the right. The exhibition halls introduce the history and life of the tomb occupants (the emperor and his empresses), as well as exhibits of many of the unearthed sacrificial relics from the tomb.

Entrance to the Unearthed Relics Exhibition

Emperor's Gold Crown

Empress's Nine Dragon Nine Phoenix Headdress

The emperor's robe

The empress's robe

Layout model of Ding Ling

We followed the pathway and skirt around the Soul Tower (明楼) and mound to reach the entrance to the underground palace. This is not the original entrance of the underground palace, but a newly dug staircase that leads deep to one of the chamber of the underground palace.

We did not take any photographs inside the underground palace, as it is believed by the Chinese to be inauspicious to take photos inside a burial tomb. Just type "ming ding ling" and search images on Google, you will be able to see many photos of the interior of the underground palace. The entire underground palace is built using stone bricks. It's not very big and consists of 5 chambers. The left and right chambers are empty, which is believed for the emperor's concubines. In the middle chamber, we could see 3 stone thrones of the emperor and empresses in the centre of the chamber. The rear chamber is the most impressive, which we could see 3 wooden coffins and many smaller boxes, all coloured in red. Note that all these are replicas, as the original ones have already decayed. In the Museum of the Ming Tombs (明十三陵博物馆), visitors would get to see the photos of the original conditions when the archaeologists first entered the chamber. The largest coffin belongs to the emperor, flanked by 2 smaller coffins of the empresses. The smaller boxes contain the sacrificial items, which are now on exhibit in the 2 exhibition halls at the courtyard and the Museum of the Ming Tombs (明十三陵博物馆). At the antechamber, there's a TV set that shows the documentary on how the archaeologists first managed to open the locked marble door, which has a self locking mechanism that seems impossible to unlock at first. After this, we passed through the Diamond Wall (which is the original entrance to the underground palace) and exited the place.

Once out of the underground palace, we visited the Soul Tower (明楼) where we could see a giant stele that carries the inscriptions "Great Ming" (大明) and "The Mausoleum of Emperor Shenzong" (神宗显皇帝之陵). From here, we walked towards the entrance. Near to the ticket office, there's another exhibition hall named Museum of the Ming Tombs (明十三陵博物馆). This place is not very big and it introduces the history and life of all the Ming emperors and their burial tombs. There's also a lot of information and photographs related to the excavation of Ding Ling (定陵) underground palace, along with many exhibits on the unearthed treasures from the underground palace.

Emperor's Hat

Emperor's Flat Bead Crown

Empress's Twelve Dragon Nine Phoenix Headdress

After this we left the place and took Bus 872 to Deshengmen (德胜门).

Shizhahai (什刹海)

The bus ride from Ding Ling (定陵) to Deshengmen (德胜门) took around 1.5 hours. By the time we reached Deshengmen (德胜门), it was already dark. From Deshengmen (德胜门), we walked to the north bank of Houhai (后海), then stroll along the bank towards the Yinding Bridge (银锭桥), the place where we went to on Day 1. The night atmosphere at Shizhahai (什刹海) was completely different from the day time. Rows of pubs and restaurants were decorated with colourful lights and loud music playing from almost every pub.

Night view of Houhai

We went to a western restaurant near the Yinding Bridge (银锭桥) to have our dinner, which we ordered spaghetti. After dinner, we took the MRT back to our hotel and called it a day.



Follow the links below to the other days of my China tour:

Day 1: Beijing (Yonghe Lama Temple, Shizhahai, Prince Gong Mansion, Behai Park, Gui Jie)

Day 2: Beijing (Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, Old Summer Palace, Wangfujing)

Day 3: Tianjin (Italian Style Town, Nanshi Food Street, Drum Tower, Ancient Cultural Street, Quanjude Peking Roast Duck)

Day 4: Xi'an (Muslim Street, Drum Tower, Bell Tower, Xi'an City Wall, Defu Alley)

Day 5: Xi'an (Terracotta Army Museum, Da Ci'en Temple, Big Wild Goose Pagoda, Tang Paradise)

Day 6: Huashan

Day 7: Beijing (Temple of Heaven, Silk Street)

Day 8: Beijing (Great Wall - Badaling, Ming 13 Tombs - Ding Ling, Shizhahai)

Day 9: Beijing (Summer Palace)

Exploring the best sites in Temple of Heaven (Beijing)

Day 7

On Day 7, we bid farewell to Xi'an and prepare to return to Beijing. It had been an exciting trip filled with rich historical memory and witnessed the great beauty of nature at Huashan (华山) the day before. We checked out from our hotel very early in the morning and followed exactly the same timing and route to the Xi'an North Railway Station (西安北站) as the day before. We had breakfast at KFC again and takeaway chicken burgers as lunch for the train ride later. At 7.50am, we departed Xi'an via the high speed train and would take 5 hours plus to reach Beijing. Still tired from the previous day mountain hiking and the early wake up, we spent most of the time sleeping through the train ride.


Imperial Courtyard Hotel (北京花园十六号酒店)

We reached Beijing West Railway Station (北京西站) at 1.30pm. We dragged our luggage to the MRT station connected to the railway station, interchanged at a couple of stations before reaching Andingmen Station (安定门) at Line 2. From the station, it was another 15 min walk to the Imperial Courtyard Hotel (北京花园十六号酒店) located inside the Hutong area. The entrance to the hotel wasn't easy to find. It wasn't facing the main road, but facing a small alley branching from the main road. A sign board along the main road had helped us.

Entrance to Imperial Courtyard Hotel

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Once inside the hotel, we could feel ourselves immersed in a traditional Chinese environment. The hotel is not very big, but it is well decorated, from its walkway to the interior room design. The furniture, bed and decorations in the room are all based on traditional Chinese theme. Yet the owner has integrated well with the modern facilities like TV, air-con and lighting.

View from the hotel reception area

View from the 2nd level walkway

View of the room

Porcelain decorations on the wooden shelf

View of the bathroom

Temple of Heaven (天坛)

By the time we settled down, it was already close to 3.00pm. We had only planned for one visit to a major attraction, which was the Temple of Heaven (天坛). The Temple of Heaven (天坛) is a place where the Emperors of Ming and Qing dynasties performed ceremonies of worship to the heaven for good harvest. The Temple of Heaven (天坛) consists of several buildings located in a huge park. We left the hotel and made our way to Tiantandongmen Station (天坛东门) from Andingmen Station (安定门). From the Tiantandongmen Station (天坛东门), it was just a short distance to the East Gate ticket office, which we purchased the through tickets (which allowed entrance to all attractions within the park).

Through tickets to Temple of Heaven

We entered the park via the East Gate and then walked through the Seventy Two Long Corridor (七十二长廊) towards the main attraction Hall of Prayer of Good Harvests (祈年殿). Along the corridor, we could see many elderly locals spending their time here chatting and playing cards. At the Hall of Prayer of Good Harvests (祈年殿), we could see the majestic circular hall on top of the 3 layered marble terrace. The hall itself has 3 layers of blue colour eaves and the entire building is made of wood only.

Introduction of the Hall of Prayer of Good Harvests

View of Hall of Prayer of Good Harvests

Interior view of Hall of Prayer of Good Harvests

Walking further north of the Hall of Prayer of Good Harvests (祈年殿), we could find the Imperial Hall of Heaven (皇乾殿) that is meant to house the God tablet.

Imperial Hall of Heaven

Interior view of Imperial Hall of Heaven

After this, we walked southwards along the raised walkway known as the Vermilion Steps Bridge (丹陛桥). At the end of the walkway, we arrived at another smaller circular building called the Imperial Vault of Heaven (皇穹宇).

Vermilion Steps Bridge

This is the place where the imperial ancestral and God tablets are housed. The Imperial Vault of Heaven (皇穹宇) is enclosed by the Echo Wall (回音壁), which was intelligently designed to allow people located at opposite end to communicate to one another, due to the smooth passing of sound waves.

Introduction of Imperial Vault of Heaven

Imperial Vault of Heaven

Introduction of Echo Wall

Further south of the Imperial Vault of Heaven (皇穹宇) is the Circular Mound Altar (圜丘坛), which is a 3 layered marble terrace with an open top. At the centre is the round Heavenly Centre Stone (天心石), which is known to resonate sound made from that location. Near the platform, we could also see the huge firewood stove used to cook animal sacrificial for the worshiping ceremonies.

Introduction of Circular Mound

Entrance to Circular Mound

View of the Imperial Vault of Heaven from Circular Mound

View at the top of Circular Mound

Introduction of Heavenly Centre Stone

It was already late in the evening and close to the closing time. We made our way back to the East Gate, where we passed by the Seven Star Stones (七星石). There were originally seven large stones to symbolise the seven peaks of Mount Tai, but one more was later added by Qing Emperor Qianlong (乾隆皇帝) in the northeast direction, to signify the addition of the Manchurian clan as part of the complete Chinese nation.

Introduction of Seven Star Stones

Seven Star Stones (Now there are eight stones)

Silk Street (秀水街)

We exited the Temple of Heaven (天坛) and went to Silk Street (秀水街) by taking the MRT from Tiantandongmen Station (天坛东门) to Yonganli Station (永安里), which is directly linked to the Silk Street (秀水街). We first had our dinner at one of the restaurant located opposite of Silk Street (秀水街) selling Taiwanese braised meat rice set before the shopping.

Logo of Silk Street

The Silk Street (秀水街) is now no longer a street, but a 6 storey high modern shopping mall. It is a very popular shopping area for tourists, where there are many retail shops selling different products like clothing, handbags, shoes, children toys, electronics, cosmetics, jewelries, antiques, souvenirs and the most popular being silk, which the place got its name. Personally I found the things sold here were overpriced, even after taking account the discounts from some hard bargaining. Eventually we only bought some souvenirs and spent most of the time window shop around the mall. After this, we took the MRT back to the hotel to call it a day.



Follow the links below to the other days of my China tour:

Day 1: Beijing (Yonghe Lama Temple, Shizhahai, Prince Gong Mansion, Behai Park, Gui Jie)

Day 2: Beijing (Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, Old Summer Palace, Wangfujing)

Day 3: Tianjin (Italian Style Town, Nanshi Food Street, Drum Tower, Ancient Cultural Street, Quanjude Peking Roast Duck)

Day 4: Xi'an (Muslim Street, Drum Tower, Bell Tower, Xi'an City Wall, Defu Alley)

Day 5: Xi'an (Terracotta Army Museum, Da Ci'en Temple, Big Wild Goose Pagoda, Tang Paradise)

Day 6: Huashan

Day 7: Beijing (Temple of Heaven, Silk Street)

Day 8: Beijing (Great Wall - Badaling, Ming 13 Tombs - Ding Ling, Shizhahai)

Day 9: Beijing (Summer Palace)