Sunset over Summer Palace (Tips & Photos)

Visiting Summer Palace at different times of a day allows you to see the different views under sunrise in the morning, at noon, in the afternoon and under sunset.

Today seeing the beautiful early winter weather – azure and clear, I decide to snap some pictures of the sunset over Summer Palace.

Summer Palace is dominated by Kunming Lake in the center circled by East Dike on the east, Longevity Hill on the north (the iconic landmark in Summer Palace), West Dike on the west and South Lake Isle. Normally sunset just takes a few minutes, making changing places for pictures taking very difficult.

One hour driving and half hour waiting only allows me to have  only a few minutes for catching  today’s sunset in my pictures. No complaining about that. Flowers don’t bloom every day;  good scenic views are not always around us. We’d better rather often  think of the short-live flowers and rarely seen scenic views than complaining about their  rarity or short time.

The bright sunshine is turning yellow and red,casting long golden waving rays on the lake. Its sunset glow blankets the whole area.

A group of people alight a dragon boat at the dock near New Palace Gate with the bright sun hanging high on the west golden sky.

A grey-haired grandma is playing an accordion, surrounded by visitors passing by. The scene reminds me of a line of poem “The sunset is beautiful but the dusk is near”. A little pessimistic?  No, this grandma is enjoying every minute of the beautiful sunset and expecting tomorrow’s sunset though nothing lasts for ever like all of us.

Further move on along the willow waving dike. People are fully intoxicated by the golden sunset, sitting on benches or on the lake bank under willow trees, or  just strolling along the dike, laughing and chatting, of course, taking photos of the rare moment.

The sunset glow is throwing a new golden coating on the willow trees along the dike.

Sunset is like a firewood to rekindle a romance. The sun is getting round, casting a long golden ray on the lake.

Sunset offers a good opportunity for a young couple to be romantic.

A dragon boat colored by the sunset glow with the back drop of the Longevity Hill toppled by the Tower of Buddhist Incense.

Some visitors are still leisurely rowing tor pedalling their boats under the golden sunset glow.

On the way to the court area and the long corridor, you will see a massive building known as Wenchang Tower, one of the six gate forts in Summer Palace and built in 1750 and burned down by Anglo-Frence led foreign forces in 1860.

Boating under the golden sunset glow.

People are catching the last sunset glow.

The Longevity Hill is on the north of Kunming Lake, the iconic land mark of Summer Palace.

Walking along the long corridor, the sun is half submerged under the West Hill.

Lion figures on the 17-arch bridge linking the South Isle.

Tip:  Hassle-free Beijing Guided Tours

If you don’t want to do a self-guided tour and prefer the hassle-free escorted tours, here are some options for organized tours to Beijing:

Further Readings