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Summer Palace (Yiheyuan)vsOld Summer Palace (Yuanmingyuan)
Both are rated very highly by professional travelers. Overall, Summer Palace is preferred by most writers compared to Old Summer Palace. Summer Palace comes in at 95 with recommendations from 7 reviewers including Fodor's, Afar Magazine and Lonely Planet.
Summer Palace (Yiheyuan)
Fodor's
Concierge
Travel + Leisure
Michelin Guide Travel + Leisure
Afar Magazine
Lonely Planet
19 Xin-jian-gong-men Rd, Haidian District, Beijing 100084
From $0/night
Fodor's "The greenery provides a welcome relief from the loud, bustling city. It also teaches a fabulous history lesson." Full review
Concierge "Once a warm-weather retreat for the Qing dynasty's imperial court, the Summer Palace... is a lovely place to escape the urban smog."
i
Arrive early to avoid crowds, or dodge them with a stroll around the water, as the Qing Empress Dowager Cixi might have done in the 19th century.
Travel + Leisure "It must have been quite a schlep for emperors of old—who traveled in slow-moving palanquins along with hundreds of courtiers to get to this beautiful, serene lakeside palace." Full review
Michelin Guide 3 Stars
"This summer palace was restored at great expense at the end of the 19C by the empress Cixi."
i
This enchanting site... should not to be missed.
Travel + Leisure "Considered a masterpiece of Chinese landscape design, visitors can avoid the crowds by packing a picnic, renting a boat, and exploring some of the lesser-known halls and pavilions." Full review
Afar Magazine "China's largest royal park was once called the Garden of Cultivated Harmony." Full review
Lonely PlanetTop choice
"This former playground for emperors fleeing the suffocating summer torpor of the old imperial city easily merits an entire day’s exploration." Full review
Old Summer Palace (Yuanmingyuan) Fodor's
Frommer's Michelin Guide Afar Magazine Afar Magazine
The Telegraph
Qinghuan West Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100007
From $0/night
Fodor's "eijing has chosen to preserve the vast ruin as a "monument to China's national humiliation," though the patriotic slogans that were once scrawled on the rubble have now been cleaned off." Full review
Frommer's "An amalgamation of three separate imperial gardens, these ruins create a ghostly and oddly enjoyable scene, beloved for years as a picnic spot." Full review
Michelin Guide 2 Stars
"All that remain are its majestic ruins, however it is very pleasant to stroll though this park dotted with remnants from a former time."
Afar Magazine "Only the stark marble columns of the Western-style section remain, as the wooden portions were burned down by the Anglo-French forces." Full review
Afar Magazine "The Old Summer Palace is also known as Yuanming Yuan (Garden of Perfection and Light)." Full review
The Telegraph "Once the gilded retreat of the Qianlong Emperor. Rambling and romantic, a few shattered lumps of stone are all that remain. Fix yourself a picnic and find a quiet corner within its wooded pathways" Full review
