A One-Day Royal Gardens Tour in Beijing: Summer Palace → Beihai Park

If you only have one day and want to see royal gardens, ancient architecture, and Buddhist art all in one trip, pairing the Summer Palace with Beihai Park is a solid plan. The two parks aren’t next to each other, but the transit between them is surprisingly smooth, as long as you pick the right entrances and exits. Here’s the exact route:

7:50 Enter Summer Palace East Palace Gate → 8:00 to 12:00 tour the Summer Palace → 12:00 exit North Palace Gate, take the subway to Beihai → 12:50 lunch near Ping’anli or Beihai North → 13:30 to 17:30 enter Beihai Park’s North Gate → exit through the South Gate, and if you still have energy, keep walking toward Jingshan Park and the corner towers of the Forbidden City.

1) Recommended Summer Palace route:
East Palace Gate → Hall of Benevolence and Longevity → Hall of Jade Ripples → Yiyun Hall → Hall of Happiness and Longevity → Long Corridor → Hall of Dispelling Clouds → Tower of Buddhist Incense → (Zhihuihai) Sea of Wisdom (the golden and green Buddha photo) → Four Great Continents → North Palace Gate

The biggest advantage of this route is the order: flat ground first, then the climb, then a steady descent down the north slope of Longevity Hill (Wanshou Mountain), ending right at the subway exit. After entering through the East Palace Gate, the Hall of Benevolence and Longevity is the first stop, an area once used by the emperor and empress for handling state affairs and daily life. You don’t need to linger too long at the Hall of Jade Ripples, Yiyun Hall, or the Hall of Happiness and Longevity. Glance at them on your way through and save your time and energy for Longevity Hill ahead. The part really worth slowing down for starts at the Long Corridor. Walk along the northern shore of Kunming Lake all the way to the Hall of Dispelling Clouds, then start climbing toward the Tower of Buddhist Incense. The plaque reading “Fragrance Beyond the Clouds” (tiān wài yún xiāng) hangs right there. The Tower of Buddhist Incense is also the visual center of the entire Summer Palace, and looking back at Kunming Lake from here gives you basically the most iconic view in the whole park. Keep going upward, and don’t turn back once you reach the Tower of Buddhist Incense. Push on to the Sea of Wisdom. The front of the hill is all Kunming Lake, the Long Corridor, and grand halls, but the back hill suddenly shifts into a quiet cluster of Buddhist architecture. Continue north and you’ll reach the Four Great Continents, a highly distinctive complex blending Han and Tibetan architectural styles, and honestly one of the best parts of this whole route. From there, it’s a steady downhill walk to the North Palace Gate.

2) Recommended Beihai Park route:
North Gate → Western Paradise → Nine Dragon Wall → Jingxinzhai Studio → south along the east shore → Zhishan Bridge → Jade Islet → White Dagoba → Yong’an Temple → Yong’an Bridge → Round City (Tuan City) → South Gate

The part I’d actually recommend examining closely is Western Paradise. Those two painted clay statues holding ritual instruments in the photo are one of the most interesting details of this style of Buddhist architecture at Beihai. The first courtyard of Western Paradise is the Hall of Heavenly Kings, home to Maitreya Buddha and the Four Heavenly Kings. The one holding a pipa is the classic depiction of Dhritarashtra, the Heavenly King of the East.