Thank you for the trip report.8. Yiheyuan and Summer palace
I failed to book a ticket for the Old Palace and Tianmen Square. Yeah, tickets for Old Palace and Tianmen Square entrance need prebooking. Especially, Old Palace need one-week prebooking in advance, and I still failed to get an entrance ticket. People advised me to go to metro station near the old palace to buy a ticket from those Yellow Ox (黄牛), the term for those people who buy tickets for resale. I turned my destinations to Yiheyuan and Summer palace where tickets can be booked and buy on site easier. Something strange, when I mentioned Summer Palace (夏宫), people seem not understand what I was talking about. They only know it as Yuanmingyuan (圆明园).
Yiheyuan is large garden with a large lake in the center. In the lake, the first time I see real life mandarin ducks (鸳鸯).
Along the lake, I walked deep until a "palace" called 排雲門, that's a building built on a hill. It required a ticket to enter. I don't have time because I need to move on to Summer Palace. So, I leave it here.
Summer palace located some 10 minutes' drive from Yiheyuan. Walking in Summer palace, I was rushed because I was already rather tired and need to get back to hotel to checked out before noon. So, I just took some photos and went straight out. It was raining lightly, and temperature dropped to about 10°C. I didn't have raincoat or umbrella, nor did I have any winter coat.
China Travel
- Thread starter SteelBird
- Start date
8. Yiheyuan and Summer palace
I failed to book a ticket for the Old Palace and Tianmen Square. Yeah, tickets for Old Palace and Tianmen Square entrance need prebooking. Especially, Old Palace need one-week prebooking in advance, and I still failed to get an entrance ticket. People advised me to go to metro station near the old palace to buy a ticket from those Yellow Ox (黄牛), the term for those people who buy tickets for resale. I turned my destinations to Yiheyuan and Summer palace where tickets can be booked and buy on site easier. Something strange, when I mentioned Summer Palace (夏宫), people seem not understand what I was talking about. They only know it as Yuanmingyuan (圆明园).
Yiheyuan is large garden with a large lake in the center. In the lake, the first time I see real life mandarin ducks (鸳鸯).
Along the lake, I walked deep until a "palace" called 排雲門, that's a building built on a hill. It required a ticket to enter. I don't have time because I need to move on to Summer Palace. So, I leave it here.
Summer palace located some 10 minutes' drive from Yiheyuan. Walking in Summer palace, I was rushed because I was already rather tired and need to get back to hotel to checked out before noon. So, I just took some photos and went straight out. It was raining lightly, and temperature dropped to about 10°C. I didn't have raincoat or umbrella, nor did I have any winter coat.
I recall that Yiheyuan wasn’t terribly well maintained for an important landmark of historic significance a couple of years ago and irate netizens complained that they “appropriated fundings for Yiheyuan for building the navy” in a reverse uno of Beiyang Fleet.
As a person used to study there nearby, I'm pretty sure the garden/park you were in was . In fact, this is also the origin of the station's name 北土城 (Northern Earthen Wall). So congratulations—you were unknowingly walking on an 800-year-old Yuan Dynasty city wall!...continue
I arrived at Beitucheng (北土城) metro station C exit, the meeting point for Badaling Greatwall's one-day tour, a bit early. Meeting time was 10am. So, I walked around and find a place for breakfast. I found that behind the metro station was a large bus station with route number 887 being the bus for Badaling. Opposite the road was a large theme garden filled with begonia (海棠花). Behind the garden was a residential area where I had my breakfast.
The meeting point for Badaling Greatwall
Road in front of Beitucheng metro station
A tradition style building, part of the garden
Path inside the garden
Flowers blossom inside the garden.
Ah... the nostalgia. I used to date girls up there. It's a nice little place reminds me of my student life.
FriedRiceNSpice
Captain
Or to serve as a reminder of the destruction wrought by the barbarians and the Century of Humiliation?
I think you got it confused with Yuanmingyuan? Yiheyuan is very much in tact. Tourists just hate how weeds are growing everywhere with no one to trim them.
FriedRiceNSpice
Captain
Ah I misread.
PeoplesPoster
Junior Member
Anyone going to China for a vacation should really do themselves a service and consider Shanxi if they are at all interested in Chinese history, architecture, religion, or nature. Went on a 6 day road trip there a couple years back and will do a quick trip report.
Pinyao
Wutai Mountain Monasteries
fox!
Pinyao
Wutai Mountain Monasteries
fox!
SteelBird
Colonel
When was Yiheyuan lack of maintenance? For what I have seen with my own eyes, everything is well maintained. Just a bit too crowded. Everywhere is too crowded.
SteelBird
Colonel
Is that a white fox in the last photo? China is very big and many places worth going to. The problem is how much time do you have? I don't think I'll have time for another vacation in the next few years. And should I have time for another vacation, I would consider a different country as the world is even larger, and we might have too little time to go to the same place again.Anyone going to China for a vacation should really do themselves a service and consider Shanxi if they are at all interested in Chinese history, architecture, religion, or nature. Went on a 6 day road trip there a couple years back and will do a quick trip report.
Pinyao
Wutai Mountain Monasteries
fox!
No worries. Glad you had great time in China.