A Tour of The Summer Palace, In Beijing, China

The cherry blossoms were abloom around parts of the Summer Palace, in Beijing, China.

The Summer Palace is a must-see destination, northwest of Beijing's city center. It was first built around 1750 and comprises 2.9 square kilometers (about 1.8 square miles). The palace has a large man-made lake that is fed by natural springs. Pavilions, walkways, and courtyards encompass the lake. I visited the Summer Palace with my father, sister-in-law and niece on Thursday and we were absolutely astounded by its enormity and grandeur.

During our afternoon visit, we were able to see only a fraction of the pavilions and buildings. As you can imagine, the lake provides a cooling focal point during the summer months. Visitors can purchase tickets for boat rides and walking tours. From what I noticed, all tours were held in Chinese.

You can get to the Summer Palace via taxi or subway. Fortunately, the grounds are large enough to absorb the crowds of people. Choose a non-weekend day to visit, to avoid the largest crowds.

One of the many small buildings and bridges around the lake.


A view of the man made lake, at the Summer Palace.

A ambidextrous performer created beautiful calligraphy letters on the flagstone, using long brushes that were dipped in water.

A pavilion perched in the hillside is approached by a steep stairway.


Visitors relaxed in the shade of one of the outdoor pavilions.


For the wiki entry of the Summer Palace, click here.
For more photos and history of the Summer Palace, click here.


My fiance Mark is helping me post photos while I'm in China. Blogger is banned, and I regret that I cannot respond to your comments or visit any blogger-hosted blogs, while I'm here. Posts will continue here while I'm on vacation. Some pre-scheduled posts will occur with photos of New York City.