I made the mistake of not telling my driver to drop me at the east gate. If you don't want to visit the lama temples, stopping at the north gate is not good. We have to walk extra 2 km one way to reach the east gate. Because of that, we don't have time for climbing up to fouxiangge as... more

You go to the Summer Palace for the lake and the park, because if you've already seen the Forbidden City and you're not that in to Chinese culture and history then the buildings won't blow you away. But the place is a beautiful way to get out of the city and spend 2 to 4 hours on a nice afternoon.... more

We enjoyed our day here very much and preferred it to the Forbidden City. It's a great balance between temples, palaces and the great outdoors. Go on a nice day and be prepared to spend most of the day. Bathrooms were clean and lots of places to eat. get the combination ticket. more

An absolute must for any trip to Beijing. This will happily occupy you for a full day. Beautiful grounds and extraordinary buildings. Try to take a trip on the lake although the winds coming off the mountains can close these down quite quickly. There really is something for everyone here. Our kids loved exploring all the nooks and crannies and... more

If you have time to burn in Beijing by all means go to the Summer Palace. It is a wonderful alternative to spending the day in much of dirty, polluted Beijing. The lake gardens especially to the south are not crowded and can be very relaxing (bring bug spray!). The buildings on the north side are well cared for and... more

We visited the Summer Palace in January 2008 and thought it was a great place to spend about half a day. Kunming Lake was frozen when we visited and there were many people walking across the ice! This is one of the few places where I would recommend getting the English audio guide as the grounds did not have many... more

it was a rainy day in September 2007, inspite of the rain i went there with my wife and daughter (3). the park is mgnificent, so beautiful so green so weel kept. we stayed hours in garden, no knowing we didn't even see half of the place. go back again - i wish i could... more

What a beautiful and peaceful place. Even the little gift stalls do not take away the beauty of the Summer Palace. Plan on spending most of the day here and rent a boat on your own to spend a peaceful hour or so cruising the shoreline of the lake. So beautiful! more

Plan to spend at least a half a day since even that amount of time won't permit you to really see this serene estate, beautifully sited on Kuming Lake. We walked along Changlang, the long (very long) and colorful covered corridor, that follows the lake shore, saw the stone boat and various buildings, and took the 'dragon boat' back to... more