Exploring the Summer Palace in Beijing

Hey everyone, first of all I would like to welcome every reader to my post and hope you have a week which is full of great experiences! Also today I would like to share an experience with you which I made on my trip in China and am happy if you appreciate what I do.

As a cultural center, Beijing has so much to offer when it comes to traditional China and even if it's slightly outside the city, I decided to make a trip to the Summer Palace one day. Even if the first impression may suggest that it's not more than a palace, it's a whole complex which due to its size, offers many opportunities to relax and if you want to escape the hectic climate of the big city, you are in perfect hands here. The palace has even been a Unesco World Heritage Site since the 20th century and on the site there is also a large lake as well as some other traditional things to admire and before anyone goes there you should definitely plan half a day to get to know the numerous pavilions, temples and of course the lake.

The palace itself had unfortunately closed on the day of my visit, which was not the end of the world because there were so many other things to see and I also took a boat trip to go to the other side of the lake and from there I walked back along the shore to the start and used my day wisely to get to know the most important buildings here. Of course, it remains open to everyone how he spends his day here, but I can highly recommend combining a boat trip and a walk similar to me to get the most out of it, but people who have problems with walking or there are other restrictions can also take back the boat and it's in any case a unique experience to travel with a traditional Chinese boat.

There are different options of boats that can be chosen and in addition to the larger ones there are also boats for small groups and depending on the chosen option, the prices also vary and this can also be transferred to other sights on the site and the prices vary depending on the selected options. When it comes to traditional culture, different influences are combined here and visitors can look forward to architecture, nature, symbolism, mythology or history and I would say that there is something for everyone. The palace was originally built as a residence for the royal family during the 18th century under the rule of Emperor Qianlong and there have been numerous changes in the last centuries and the palace was even temporarily destroyed and rebuilt.

The lake was artificially created and only serves the purpose of beautifying the facility or offering boating and here there are no people who swim, but some swimmers can be seen on the nearby rivers but the lake itself is not suitable for these purposes. Symbolically, the terrain is also associated with harmony and it is probably one of the best-known examples when it comes to the demonstration of Traditional Gardens, which attracts thousands of visitors every year for a reason. Everywhere on the site, visitors will find different symbolism that express the power of the imperial family and for visitors of the city it's an absolute recommendation to come here.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you could learn something new and like my post! I captured these pictures with my Sony Alpha 6000 plus 55-210 mm lens.