The Summer Palace is the most complete imperial garden still standing in China, about 290 hectares — roughly four times the area of the Forbidden City. Built around Kunming Lake and Longevity Hill, it combines the mood of a Jiangnan garden with imperial scale, and it looks different in every season.
Tickets and hours
- Main gate ticket
- Peak season, 1 April to 31 October, 30 yuan. Low season, 1 November to 31 March, 20 yuan.
- Combined ticket
- 60 yuan in peak season, 50 yuan low season, covering the main ticket plus the halls inside the garden: the Tower of Buddhist Incense, the Garden of Virtue and Harmony, Suzhou Street and the Summer Palace museum. Buy the main ticket only, and decide inside whether your legs still want the Tower of Buddhist Incense — the combined ticket is easy to waste.
- Opening hours
- Peak season 6:00 to 20:00, last entry 19:00. Low season 6:30 to 19:00, last entry 18:00. The walled gardens inside are usually 8:00 to 17:30.
- How to book
- Book by real name one to seven days ahead on the Summer Palace mini-program, then scan your ID card at the gate.
Routes through it
The garden is very large. Pick a route for the time and the legs you have, and avoid doubling back.
- The classic route (4–5 hours)
- For visitors with a full afternoon who want the core sights.
- Route
- East Palace Gate, Hall of Benevolence and Longevity, the Long Corridor, the Tower of Buddhist Incense with the lake below it, the Pavilion of Painting, the Marble Boat, a boat across to South Lake Island, the Seventeen-Arch Bridge, out at the New Palace Gate.
- Character
- Everything the garden is known for in one line: a climb, a boat, the old buildings and the water.
- The low-effort route (3 hours)
- For visitors with older people or children, or anyone who would rather not climb.
- Route
- In at the North Ruyi Gate, the Pavilion of Painting, the Long Corridor, the Tower of Buddhist Incense — photographing it from below is a legitimate choice — the Pavilion of Knowing Spring, the bronze ox, the Seventeen-Arch Bridge, out at the New Palace Gate.
- Character
- The North Ruyi Gate has fewer people and no big climb, and the whole route is gentle enough to walk, stop and sit through.
- The west causeway route (3–4 hours)
- For visitors who came for the landscape rather than the buildings.
- Route
- In at the West Gate, the Hall of Distant Viewing, then the west causeway past the Willow Bridge, the Tower of Bright Prospects, the Silk Bridge, the Mirror Bridge and the Jade Belt Bridge, on to the Youfeng Bridge and the Farming and Weaving picture area, out at the North Ruyi Gate.
- Character
- The causeway copies the Su Causeway at West Lake in Hangzhou. Peach blossom in spring, ginkgo on the ground in autumn, and photographs either way.
Where the photographs are
- The Pavilion of Painting (画中游)
- The best-looking corner of the garden: a pavilion set into the hillside. Wear something pale, or hanfu, and lean on the rail — the frame does the rest. Light is best between 15:00 and 16:00.
- The Tower of Buddhist Incense (佛香阁)
- The landmark. The climb is real, but the whole of Kunming Lake opens below you. After 16:00 the light turns gold.
- The Seventeen-Arch Bridge (十七孔桥)
- The longest bridge in any surviving imperial garden, carrying more than five hundred carved lions, no two alike. Around the winter solstice the low sun fires straight through the arches; at other times of year, about 16:00, the light through them is still worth the trip.
- The Pavilion of Knowing Spring (知春亭)
- The best single point to take in Longevity Hill, Kunming Lake and the borrowed view of Yuquan Hill behind it. At sunset the sky and the water are in the same frame.
- The Marble Boat (石舫)
- Lit in the evening it looks like a glass boat floating free. Shoot it from the far bank with a long lens and the reflection doubles it.
Getting there
- Metro Line 4
- To Beigongmen, out at Exit A, and about five minutes on foot to the North Palace Gate or the North Ruyi Gate.
- The Western Suburban line
- To Summer Palace West Gate station — the right approach if you are walking the west causeway, and the little tram line there is a pleasure in itself.
- Bus or car
- The New Palace Gate is easiest by bus or car; the East Palace Gate by bicycle.
What catches people out
- Pick the right gate
- Avoid the East Palace Gate: the tour groups use it and you are climbing from the moment you are through. The North Palace Gate also starts with a hill. Use the North Ruyi Gate or the New Palace Gate — fewer people, less effort.
- Bring water
- Water and snacks inside cost real money — five or six yuan for a bottle. Bring a bottle and something to eat.
- Wear the right shoes
- All stone paving, up and down, and ten thousand steps is the floor here. No heels, no new shoes.
- The free audio guide
- Do not rent an audio device or buy a tour from someone at the gate. Search the Summer Palace guide mini-program in WeChat and the commentary is free.
- Monday inside the garden
- On Mondays the inner gardens — the Tower of Buddhist Incense, the Garden of Virtue and Harmony — close, though the park itself stays open. Plan around it.
- Boats on the lake
- There are boat docks on Kunming Lake: an electric boat is about 200 yuan an hour and seats six. It is the pleasantest way to cross. From mid-November, wind or rain can stop them running.