Visit to the Summer Palace http://www.summerpalace-china.com/
Time: April 17th , Thursday morning, 08:30-12:00
Gathering Time: 08:15, outside the Building 6 (where the International College Office is)
Remember, please take your student ID card.
The International College will buy the tickets for you. But you need to pay the return fare yourself, which is only 2 yuan.
You will take the Bus 696 at Bao Fu Si Qiao Xi station, and will get off at Di Tie Bei Gong Men Zhan (7 stops).
乘车路线：
保福寺桥西，坐696，到地铁北宫门站下车（7站），到颐和园北宫门买票。
Here is the introduction of the Summer Palace:
Situated in western outskirts of Beijing, the Summer Palace is 10 kilometers from the central city. It is China's leading classical garden which enjoys a worldwide reputation. The Summer Palace was opened to the public in 1924 and included in the UNESCO world heritage list in 1998. A whole day is needed to view it in detail.
The Summer Palace was first built in 1153 and served as an imperial palace for short stays away from the capital. Empress Dowager Ci Xi rebuilt it in 1888 with a large sum of money which had been appropriated to build a Chinese navy.
The two main elements of the garden are Longevity Hill and Kunming Lake. Kunming Lake, with an exquisite building in the middle, takes up three quarters of the garden's 290 hectares. The garden consists of three parts: the political activity area, the empress's living quarter and the scenic area which separately centers on the Hall of Benevolence and Longevity(1), the Hall of Jade Ripples(2) and the Hall of Happiness and Longevity(3), and Longevity Hill(4) and Kunming Lake. The groups of buildings, hills and lakes, together with the background of West Hills, give an ever changing scene.
The buildings on the southern slope of Longevity Hill are characteristic of the garden. Cloud-Dispelling Hall, the Pavilion of the Buddhist Incense(5) and the Wisdom Sea(6) on the axis line are flanked by the Wheel Hall, Wufang Pavilion and Baoyun Pavilion and are major attractions. The Pavilion of the Buddhist Incense is 41 meters high and stands on a 20-meter-high terrace. At the foot of Longevity Hill is the 728-meter-long passageway which links the three areas together. The passageway is famous for its paintings and at its western end is a 36-meter-long Marble Boat(7).
