The Summer Palace


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Asia » China » Beijing » Summer Palace
October 25th 2012
Published: October 28th 2012
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The Summer Palace is another must-see sight in Beijing. The palace area is located to the northwest of the city, and is a easy to get to from the center of the city, but takes a bit of time. The palace itself is located in a huge park area, complete with lake and man-made "mountain."

The Summer Palace was made especially grand by the Empress Dowager Cixi, who was probably a bit crazy. She took the money to build the Summer Palace from the Navy, and six years later that same navy lost the war with Japan. As a nod to where the funds came from, the Empress had an all mable boat constructed on the palace's lake. Like I said, a bit crazy.

The palace area itself was very beautiful. The lake had paddle boats and lotus flowers on it, and the buildings where in great condition. However, our whole experience was damped a bit by the HUGE crowd. We went during the national holiday, and apparently everyone else in China decided that was a good time to visit the Summer Palace too. Despite being exceptionally crowded, we still managed to enjoy the sights.

My friends and I elected to climb the huge man-made hill that some of the buildings were sitting on. You were supposed to pay extra to get up there, and then walk up a paved path, but we decided to just sort of climb the mountain through the forest, and we emerged at the top without paying. Score. The view and the Buddha Building defintely made it worth the climb.


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