Summer Palace highlights tour route, experience the mystery and beauty of the royal gardens!

The Summer Palace is one of the major tourist attractions in Beijing.

It's so big that even a half-day trip can only be done in a quick corner. There are too many people here and it’s so crowded that locals generally don’t go there, and it’s a pity for foreign tourists to leave it and it’s boring to visit.

In the past few days, I was reading the book "Eight Great Water Courtyards in Xishan". The book mentioned "Qingyi Garden", the predecessor of the Summer Palace, so I revisited the Summer Palace.

This revisiting refreshed my previous experience of the Summer Palace, and I was very moved. This is truly a famous royal garden of the Qing Dynasty!

Next, I will share with you the 7-hour garden experience route starting from taking a boat to the Summer Palace at 11 am and leaving from Beigong Gate at 6 pm.

11:00 – 11:30

Zizhuyuan Park Ziyuwan Pier——Summer Palace South Ruyi Pier

Many friends don’t know that you can go to the Summer Palace by boat, right?

This capital water system has existed since the Yuan Dynasty. It starts from Yuquan Mountain and Kunming Lake, flows southeast through the Yangtze River, passes through Wanshou Temple, Jishuitan, North Moat, Liangma River, and flows into the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal.

When Empress Dowager Cixi went to the Summer Palace, she boarded the boat from the pier in front of Wanshou Temple and went north along this waterway to the Summer Palace.

Today we can also take a boat to the Summer Palace from Ziyuwan Pier near Wanshou Temple.

It takes half an hour to get there. For 120 yuan, you can buy a "Cruise + Summer Palace" discounted combined ticket on Ctrip or Dianping to experience the royal travel route.

11:40 – 12:30

South Ruyi Gate of the Summer Palace - Xiuyi Bridge Pier... Nanhu Island - Seventeen-hole Bridge

The cruise ship arrives at the South Ruyimen Pier, crosses an arch bridge, and then you can enter the park by purchasing tickets online and swiping your ID card.

It's already the cold dew season, but in the water between the South Ruyi Gate and the cruise ship pier, you can see a "famous sight of old Beijing" - the "winter swimming" of uncles and aunts who are not afraid of the severe cold.

After entering the garden gate, you will soon see a steep arch bridge. I literally climbed up on my hands and knees. The athletic aunt next to me looked at my trembling appearance and smiled: "Oh! I'm afraid of heights!"

Even though I was afraid of heights, I worked so hard to get to the Xiuyi Bridge Pier and take a boat to Nanhu Island in the center of the lake. This not only saved my legs, but also allowed me to enjoy the Seventeen-hole Bridge from a wonderful angle in the lake.

There are no highlights on Nanhu Island, but there is only one wonderful thing, which is that you can admire the front of the Buddhist Incense Pavilion in Wanshou Mountain from the north side of Hanxu Hall on the island, leaning on the railing.

There are many off-the-beaten-track corners on the island. If you bring your own lunch, you can also find a stone bench in the shade of a tree and enjoy the scenery of the surrounding lakes and mountains leisurely while dining. This is also a good place to look at the Yufeng Pagoda of Yuquan Mountain.

12:30 – 13:50

Seventeen-Arch Bridge—Wenchangyuan (Summer Palace Museum)

After a sunny lunch, take a walk from Nanhu Island across the Seventeen-Arch Bridge, along the East Embankment to the north, and pass Wenchang Pavilion. On the right is Wenchang Courtyard, where the Summer Palace Museum is located.

At this time, the special exhibition "Garden Theory - This Landscape and This Garden" is being held. I think it is worth seeing. There are many maps and gardening manuscripts from the Qing Dynasty, which are precious materials for understanding Beijing's three mountains and five gardens.

There is also a small exhibition hall that displays gemstone bonsais from the Qing Dynasty. There was an uncle who kept saying "so beautiful, so beautiful" from the moment he walked in to sneaking out.

13:50-15:30

Yulan Hall - Yiyun Hall - Leshou Hall - Yaoyue Gate - Corridor - Garden of Harmonious Interests - Ji Qingxuan

Yulan Hall is located next to the lake and was originally the study hall of Emperor Qianlong. Later it was the residence of Emperor Guangxu when he lived in the garden, and it was also the place where Cixi imprisoned him after the Reform Movement of 1898.

This place is connected to a series of courtyards to the north, with sparse flowers and trees, mountains and rocks, and verandahs. Yiyun Pavilion is connected in all directions. Here, you might as well walk west first and pass through a door to the Leshou Hall of Empress Dowager Cixi. Admire the natural boulder screen-Qingzhixiu in the courtyard bought by Emperor Qianlong. Then, heading west, past the Yaoyue Gate is the long corridor that is usually crowded with tourists.

Returning to the Hall of Longevity and Longevity, we walked along the corridor to the back hall of the Hall of Longevity and Longevity. There were almost no tourists entering the small courtyard. It was so quiet that one was afraid that the Lafayette would suddenly float out...

Afterwards, return to the Yiyun Pavilion in front. The small door on the east side leads to the Dehe Garden Theater. Going out from the small gate on the north side, there is a quiet path that goes around the mountainside and leads to the Garden of Harmony.

The Garden of Harmonious Interests is a very famous "garden within a garden" and usually attracts many visitors. There is also an internet celebrity afternoon tea shop in the park.

There is a rather hidden mountain path to the north of the Garden of Harmony. Climbing up the hillside, a courtyard door appears at the end of the path. There is the secret garden that 99.99% of tourists will miss. The green corridor columns of Ji Qingxuan in the center of the garden are covered with purple wisterias. The garden is not big, but there are hills and ravines. The corridors on both sides follow the mountains. People can swim in the painting, which is very poetic.

15:30-16:50

Wanshou Mountain Buddhist Incense Pavilion

After visiting Ji Qingxuan, you have to go through the Garden of Harmony. After going south through Ziqidong to Chengguan, you can find a mountain road to Wanshou Mountain, and then go west to Foxiang Pavilion.

This road can not only avoid the crowded Leshou Hall and the promenade, but also overlook the Dehe Garden Theater on the hillside with thousands of couplets.

The mountain road is quiet and often frequented by kittens. Along the way, you will encounter pavilions, corridors and pavilions built under the mountains and forests, such as "Hanxin Pavilion" and "Yichiyunzai". They all have some romantic stories.

Foxiang Pavilion faces the shore of Kunming Lake in the south and Wanshou Mountain in the north. It is cascading up the mountain. Looking up, you will see a nine-level pagoda with verandas and wings, which is very majestic.

It's time for me, the "acrophobic", to tremble again...

In order to complete the check-in task, I was once again anxious to break through myself. I climbed up the handrail and bravely climbed up to the Buddhist Incense Pavilion where Thousand-Hand Guanyin is located, step by step.

The scenery above, overlooking the Financial Street and CBD in the east, Kunming Lake, CCTV Tower, and Yuyuantan in the south, and Yufeng Tower and Taihang Mountains in the west, are magnificent and magnificent. It is really a sight of "my country!" feel!

16:50-18:00

Sea of Wisdom—Four Continents

The Sea of Wisdom is the highest point of Wanshou Mountain, just to the north of Foxiang Pavilion. They were meant to be through. However, the scenic area has closed the access, so we can only endure the ladder-like steps and take the original route from Foxiang Pavilion to the lake shore, and then climb up to the Sea of Wisdom on the top of the mountain from the nearby mountain road.

"The world of fragrances, the forest, the sea of wisdom, and the auspicious clouds"

When I arrived, the golden sunset was shining through the pine forest and shining on the Glazed Hall. The walls were filled with Bodhisattvas, quiet and brilliant. I, walking alone among them, was moved... and wanted to say: "Thank you!"

The Sea of Wisdom is not only built at the highest point of Wanshou Mountain, but also built on layers of stacked rocks. Passing through a labyrinth-like stone cave in the north is the "Four Continents" Xumi Lingjing Building Complex. It faces south and faces north. It is scattered along the central axis of the north of Longevity Mountain. It is large in scale and can be wandered silently in the afterglow of the setting sun. , full of heart and eyes, amazed!

The Four Continents have been under construction before and will not be opened until the spring of 2022. It can be called the secret land of the imperial capital. I hope you don’t miss it!

18:00

Beigongmen

Go down the mountain along the four major continents and cross the Suzhou River, which is the Beigong Gate.

7 hours and more than 18,000 steps are far from being able to finish visiting the Summer Palace. But I think the route I took this time refreshed my experience of the Summer Palace, and I truly felt the mystery and beauty of the royal garden!