Old Summer Palace (Yuanmingyuan), Beijing, China

4Stephen C 5:00 PM Dec 27, 2020

Huge gardens
If you enjoy walks and pretty gardens, then this is a good place to visit. The grounds are huge and it will take at least 3 hours to do it justice. We came in winter and there were very few visitors as most would opt not to be in the outdoors. One of the highlights was the fact that the lake was frozen and it gives off a different kind of charm. To get to the site of the ruins, it is a 2.5 km walk from the entrance to the site.

4KW M 5:00 PM Oct 1, 2020

Long Walk
Take line 4 to Yuanmingyuan Park Station, follow the signs to the entrance of the parks. 10RMB to get in, then another 15RMB to get into the area with the European style ruins. This is a HUGE place wear good shoes, bring water and be prepared to put some serious millage on your legs before you leave. We were there for a couple of hours and barely saw a third of the place. Sadly, we made the mistake of going there over the October holidays…. literally tens of thousands of people, everywhere. The parks and lakes are very beautiful, they were restored years ago and like all parks in China are outstanding to walk around. The European style ruins are about 1km straight north form the South entrance, as I said, you’ll need to pay an extra 15RMB to get into that area. The ruins are just that, ruins. In their heyday, they were likely beautiful places. Sadly, the whole complex was destroyed by the Brits and French, then raided for building material by locals for many years, tragedy to be honest. It’s an scab that the Chinese keep picking, never to let their hatred of the West heal.