Pleasant Walkway to the Summer Palace
I already had my list to must go places here in Beijing, however, it was a bit too late for me to go to the ones further out, I decided to visit one of the nearer ones which is still within the city. The Summer Palace in Beijing 颐和园 is one of several UNESCO World Heritage sites within its borders. Not surprising since Beijing has a long and rich history of emperors and dynasties. To go to the Summer Palace in Beijing, I decided to take public transportation.
A Gate at the Roundabout at the Palace Entrance
I made extensive research on how to go to these places, I already had them noted down. Unfortunately, my Lonely Planet China was a little out of date and I didn’t mention that there was already a subway station which is near the place. From the Beixinqiao 北新桥 station navigated the extensive Beijing subway transfering at Huixinxijie Nakou 惠新西街南口 to line 10 and then at Haidian Huangzhuang 海淀黄庄 station for line 4. My destination station is Xiyuan 西苑 station on line 4.
The Entrance to the Summer Palace
It took my a while to get there since the place was quite far, luckily it was still within reach of the subway system. It really makes travelling here so much easier, as you do not need to figure out how the bus works. I asked a rather young security officer at Xiyuan station where the Summer Palace was. He was speaking a rather thick accent which made it a little difficult to understand but the idea was, there is no bus going to the Summer Palace, just walk, it is only 15 minutes away. I was glad that I got the directions right, but I had more problems at hand. The weather doesn’t seem to be cooperating.
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