A Singaporean who loves cooking, eating, photography and travels. Here to share my experiences and tips for fellow like-minded wanderlusters and foodies! Life is short; eat what you want and travel where you will.
On Day 3, my mother and I headed to the Old Summer Palace 圓明園. If you saw Jackie Chan's CZ12 (Chinese Zodiac 12) which was released in 2012, you'll know what I'm talking about. The Old Summer Palace was the main residence of Qianlong Emperor and his successors. There are an immense number of gardens and beautiful lakes so you can be sure that if you're exploring the grounds, you're getting a lot of steps on your Fitbit/Tracker.
During the Second Opium War in 1860, French and British troops who were supposed to negotiate a Qing surrender were found to be looting and destroying property. Thus, they were imprisoned and tortured by the Chinese. In retaliation, Lord Elgin, the British High Commissioner to China, ordered for the palace to be destroyed completely. With the work of 4000 men and 3 days of burning, the entire 800 acres of the palace was reduced to ruins. Priceless artefacts and artworks were looted.
As a side note, I can say that learning about history really makes me hate the whole Anglo colonialism era. I've studied quite a bit of history and if there's anything I've learnt, it's that colonialism is terrible. The "colonialised" have to give so much and in the end, they are left with nothing.
The Old Summer Palace comprises of three main sections:
Garden of Perfect Brightness 圓明園
Garden of Eternal Spring 長春園
Elegant Spring Garden 綺春園
I'll provide more information about each section as the photos come up. For starters, let's talk about how to get to the Old Summer Palace or Yuan Ming Yuan. From where we were (Xidan Station), we took Line 4 of the subway heading towards Anheqiao North and alighted at Yuanmingyuan Station 圓明園站. Then we took Exit B (closest to the palace).
Interior decoration at the subway station, providing you some info about history.
The entrance to Yuanmingyuan which has been restored. There are many lillies which adorn the entrance. This was the original entrance to the Elegant Spring Garden 綺春園.
Tickets to enter the venue. I think we paid about RMB25 to enter all palaces? The prices might be different now though so do check on their website before heading there.
Even though it was relatively crowded, I have to say that it was still peaceful. Probably best not to visit Beijing in July though because it is so hot. I think roaming around the Old Summer palace in a spring/autumn weather would be perfect though.
There are a few stalls here which sell some souvenirs and knick-knacks.
Malt Candy in the form of different animals! A treat for the kids and young at heart.
This lady was selling snuff bottles 鼻煙壺 which was known to be a remedy for common cold or illnesses. Usually, exquisite art would be painted inside. She can even help you paint your name inside the bottle! I bought one for myself =) Could not resist taking a bit of history home with me and thought this was the perfect souvenir.
We then found a building which contains the replicas of the 12 zodiac creatures which used to be around the fountain at Haiyantang in the Summer Palace. This is a drawing of how this fountain used to look like:
Source: Wikipedia (Haiyantang)
These twelve heads used to be spewing water into the fountain. During the British invasion of the palace, the heads of these statues were cut off before the palace was grazed. Till today, the whereabouts of some of the heads are still unknown.
Replicas of the full statues (head and bodies). Didn't manage to take photos of all of the replicas as some people were taking photographs of them for a long time.
Peaceful pond with lilypads
Place to board the traditional boats to take you nearer to the entrance (which my mother and I desperately needed after the long walk). I swear my step count was off the charts that day. However, it was not time to board this yet. We wanted to explore the ruins first before exiting.
So sad that people can bear to cause so much destruction to a building/a venue just to tear down the history of another culture. I'm not blaming just one group of people for such acts. But we as Asians are aware of what colonisation does. Still, the ultimate message should be that we should live in harmony and equality instead of letting ego get in the way, trying to be better than one another.
After the tour around the ruins, it was time for the boat ride which was such a relief for my feet!
Click to see the view we had while on the boat.
Passing another boat
Apart from the smell of the motor oil, this was a really pleasant ride. You got to experience the views from the water and pass under these beautiful bridges.
Boat wasn't too crowded which was nice. We weren't squished up against strangers which frankly, with how sweaty we were, was a relief for not just us but for others as well.
Cool and well-shaded, where we were getting off, and where some people were getting on. It was 20 yuan for one-way trip and I would say the best 20 yuan I spent that day 😂
And that's all I have on the Old Summer Palace. Another place that I could tick off on my bucket list because I'm a real Chinese history buff (with the whole royal family).
Verdict? If you're big on palaces and ruins, I'd say go ahead and give it a go! One particularly eye-opening experience I had
here was how much destruction was caused that it was heartbreaking to see. In my education, we've learnt a lot about colonisation and how different countries were affected by it. This was no act of colonisation and merely an act of disagreement between nations coupled with a my-sword-is-bigger-than-your-sword issue. Or rather, a my-sword-is-able-to-destroy-your-palace issue. If you'd like a touch of history in your trip around Beijing, I'd highly recommend this place for you. If you loved the movie CZ12 like I did, you would love this venue as well.
Thank you and I hope you
enjoyed reading this post. In the next entry, I'll cover part 2 of Day 3 where my
mum and I grabbed some lunch near our hotel and explored the beautiful area of Qianmen in the evening! Stay tuned!
