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🌅 Beijing · Attraction
Summer Palace颐和园
The ultimate imperial garden — lakes, pavilions, and a 728-meter painted corridor
The ultimate imperial garden — lakes, pavilions, and a 728-meter painted corridor
The Summer Palace is a vast imperial garden complex of lakes, pavilions, and palaces covering 2.9 square kilometers, built in 1750 as an imperial retreat. Kunming Lake covers three-quarters of the site. The famous Long Corridor stretches 728 meters along the northern shore, its beams painted with over 14,000 scenes from Chinese history — making it the world's longest painted corridor.
The rowboat lake scene is one of the most-photographed images in all of Beijing travel content
Address: 19 Xinjiangongmen Rd, Haidian District, Beijing
The easiest way to reach Summer Palace is by Didi (China's ride-hailing app, similar to Uber). Download the Didi app and link your international credit card before arriving in China. Show the driver the Chinese name: 颐和园.
Metro is also available for most attractions — check the city metro map and look for the nearest station. All metro signs in Beijing are bilingual (Chinese and English).
Citizens of 54+ countries including the USA, UK, EU nations, Canada, and Australia can visit China for up to 240 hours (10 days) without a visa. Summer Palace is fully accessible during a visa-free transit stay.
Read the Full Visa-Free Guide →600 years of imperial China in 9,999 rooms
The most scenic section — with a toboggan slide descent
Where emperors prayed for good harvests since 1420