# Old Summer Palace (Yuanmingyuan), Beijing

> The Old Summer Palace (Yuanmingyuan) is the ruined garden palace of the Qing emperors in north-west Beijing, burned in 1860. Entry is ¥10; the ¥25 through ticket adds the Western Mansions ruins. From November to March you can enter 7:00–17:30, in summer until 19:00, every day. Allow two to three hours.

Web page: https://yesgo.io/china/beijing/old-summer-palace

- City: [Beijing](https://yesgo.io/china/beijing), China
- YesGo score: 34/100 (Yes, if nearby)
- Time on site: 2 h 30 min
- Opening hours: Daily. 1 November–31 March: ticket sales and entry 7:00–17:30, park closes 19:30. 1 April–31 October: entry until 19:00, closes 21:00. Through tickets stop selling at 15:30 in winter and 17:00 in summer
- With kids: Fine with kids
- Entry: ¥10, concession ¥5
- Through ticket: ¥25, concession ¥10 — park, Western Mansions ruins and the model exhibition
- Separately: Western Mansions ruins (Great Fountain, maze) ¥15; model exhibition ¥10
- Free: Under 18 and over 60 with ID; for foreigners a passport, according to guides
- Free days: Second Saturday of June, third Saturday of September, 18 October
- Booking: Not required: ticket windows at the gates; online via the park’s WeChat mini-program
- Nov–Mar: Sales and entry 7:00–17:30, closes 19:30
- Apr–Oct: Gates 6:00, sales from 7:00, entry until 19:00, closes 21:00
- Mondays: Open — no weekly closing day
- Payment: Alipay or WeChat Pay linked to a foreign Visa or Mastercard; cash yuan
- Metro: Line 4, Yuanmingyuan Park station, Exit B for the South Gate
- Address: 28 Qinghua West Road, Haidian District (清华西路28号)
- Coordinates: 40.01205, 116.30679
- Facts checked: 04.11.2026

## Key facts

- **1860** — Anglo-French troops looted and burned the gardens in October, at the end of the Second Opium War (source: official park website; English and Chinese Wikipedia)
- **≈ 350 ha** — area of the former gardens — about five times the Forbidden City (source: official park website (352 ha); English and Russian Wikipedia)
- **1707** — the Kangxi Emperor gave the garden to his son, the future Yongzheng Emperor (source: official park website; English and Chinese Wikipedia)
- **3 gardens** — Yuanmingyuan, Changchunyuan and Qichunyuan make up the site (source: official park website; English and Chinese Wikipedia)
- **1747–1759** — the European-style Western Mansions (Xiyanglou) were built (source: English and Chinese Wikipedia)
- **12 heads** — bronze zodiac heads at the Haiyantang fountain spouted water in turn every two hours (source: English and Chinese Wikipedia)
- **1988** — the ruins opened to the public as a heritage park (source: official park website; Chinese Wikipedia)
- **2020** — the bronze horse head became the first zodiac head returned to Yuanmingyuan itself (source: official park website; Beijing News)
- **Castiglione and Benoist** — the Jesuit missionaries who designed the Western Mansions and their fountains (source: English, Russian and Chinese Wikipedia)
- **≈ 3.6 km** — in a straight line to the Summer Palace (Yiheyuan) (source: Wikidata coordinates, YesGo calculation)

## Old Summer Palace tickets: entry or through ticket?

Buy the **¥25 through ticket**. Basic **entry is ¥10** and covers the lakes, hills and southern gardens, but not the fenced Western Mansions area — the carved stone ruins everyone comes to photograph. The through ticket adds those ruins (the Great Fountain, Haiyantang and the maze) plus the model exhibition. Separately they’re ¥15 and ¥10, so the combo saves money too.

Prices are the same all year. Concessions are ¥5 and ¥10 for full-time students up to bachelor level — foreign student cards don’t count. Park rules give free entry to under-18s and over-60s with valid ID; guides say a passport works for foreign visitors, but we haven’t seen that in an official notice. Entry is also free on the second Saturday of June, the third Saturday of September and 18 October.

You don’t need to book. There are ticket windows at the South Gate, the East Gate and two other gates; online tickets are sold through the park’s official WeChat mini-program and its official account, 圆明园遗址公园. Carry your passport — guides say foreign visitors may be asked for it at the gate.

Payment is the usual China catch. Set up Alipay or WeChat Pay with a foreign Visa or Mastercard before you fly; if the mini-program rejects your card, agents such as Trip.com sell tickets, or simply pay at the window. Keep some small yuan notes for boats and drinks.

> **Through tickets stop selling early** The through ticket is withdrawn two hours before ticket sales end — at 15:30 from November to March and 17:00 from April to October. Turn up later and you can only buy ¥10 entry plus the ¥15 ruins ticket at the ruins gate, if that is still open. For the ruins in good light, arrive in the morning.

## Old Summer Palace opening hours

The park is open **every day**; there’s no Monday closing. From 1 November to 31 March, ticket sales and entry run 7:00–17:30 and the park closes at 19:30, according to the official website. Local media say the gates open at 6:30 in winter, but you can’t buy a ticket before 7:00.

From 1 April to 31 October the gates open at 6:00, sales start at 7:00, last entry is 19:00 and the park closes at 21:00. The Western Mansions ruins follow the same hours; the model exhibition closes at 19:00 in summer. These summer times come from local media and guides rather than an official notice, so treat them as a guide.

Go on a **weekday morning**. The Great Fountain is quiet before the tour groups, and in July the lotus ponds look best before the heat. In winter the ruins look striking under snow, but it gets dark early — reach the Western Mansions by 16:00.

## How to get to the Old Summer Palace by metro

1. From Tiananmen Square, take **Line 1** from Tiananmen West one stop west to **Xidan**.
2. Change to **Line 4** and ride 13 stops north — past Xizhimen, Beijing Zoo and Peking University East Gate — to **Yuanmingyuan Park**. That’s 25–30 minutes on the train, about 45 minutes door to door, and ¥5.
3. Use **Exit B**: the South Gate (绮春园宫门) is a couple of minutes’ walk. From there the Western Mansions ruins are about 1.5 km as the crow flies — around half an hour on the park paths.
4. To go straight to the ruins, take a DiDi or taxi from the station to the **East Gate** (圆明园东门), about 500 m from the Great Fountain. Walk back through the park to the South Gate and the metro.
5. From Capital Airport (PEK): Airport Express to Dongzhimen, Line 2 to Xizhimen, then Line 4 north to Yuanmingyuan Park.
6. From the Summer Palace: two stops south on Line 4 from Beigongmen, or 10–15 minutes by taxi.

## What happened to the Old Summer Palace?

Yuanmingyuan — the “Gardens of Perfect Brightness” — was the Qing emperors’ main residence outside the city. Building began in 1707, when the Kangxi Emperor gave the garden to his son, the future Yongzheng Emperor. Successive emperors expanded it for more than 150 years into three linked gardens covering about 350 hectares, where the court lived for much of the year and state business was done.

In October **1860**, at the end of the Second Opium War, Anglo-French forces occupied and looted the gardens. On 18 October the British envoy Lord Elgin ordered the buildings burned. The palace was never rebuilt; what survived was further damaged and stripped over the following decades.

The site opened as a heritage park in 1988. The ruins are kept as they are, deliberately, and 18 October is a memorial day with free entry. Almost everything you see now is stone: the timber halls and pavilions that made up most of the gardens are gone.

## What to see at the Old Summer Palace

- **The Great Fountain (Dashuifa, 大水法)** — the most photographed ruin: a carved stone shell arch and toppled columns at the edge of a former pool. In the Western Mansions area.
- **Haiyantang (海晏堂)** — foundations and carved fragments of the largest European-style palace, whose water clock had twelve bronze zodiac heads spouting in turn.
- **The maze (Huanghuazhen, 黄花阵)** — a rebuilt maze of low walls with a pavilion at the centre. Kids happily spend longer here than at the ruins.
- **Yuanyingguan (远瀛观)** — the remains of a hall on a terrace above the Great Fountain, with a view over the whole Western Mansions area.
- **The model exhibition (盛时全景模型展)** — a large scale model of the gardens at their height. See it first: the empty lawns make sense afterwards.
- **Fuhai Lake (福海)** — the biggest lake, with islands; in the warm months guides mention pedal and electric boats.
- **Lotus ponds** — in summer the lakes fill with lotus, one of the best places in Beijing to see it.

## Is the Old Summer Palace worth it, and how long do you need?

Allow **two to two and a half hours** for the Western Mansions ruins, the maze and the model, including the walk from the gate. Add Fuhai Lake and the southern gardens and it becomes a half day — distances inside are in kilometres, not metres.

It’s worth it if you like history or are already heading to the Summer Palace: the two are about 3.6 km apart on the same metro line, and together they make a good day in the north-west. It is calmer than the Forbidden City and one of the cheapest imperial sites in Beijing.

Skip it on a one- or two-day trip. These are ruins, not a palace: the Forbidden City, the Temple of Heaven and the Summer Palace are more complete and more impressive. Don’t expect restored interiors — Yuanmingyuan is kept as a ruin on purpose, as a memorial to 1860.

## Before you go: checklist

- [ ] I’m buying the through ticket so I can see the ruins
- [ ] I’ll arrive before 15:30 in winter or 17:00 in summer
- [ ] Passport in my bag
- [ ] Alipay or WeChat Pay works with my foreign card
- [ ] Some small yuan notes
- [ ] 圆明园东门 or 圆明园南门 saved for the taxi driver
- [ ] Comfortable shoes and water — the paths are long

## Old Summer Palace vs Summer Palace and Beihai

|  | Old Summer Palace | Summer Palace | Beihai Park |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| What it is | Ruined imperial garden, heritage park | Intact lakeside imperial park | Imperial garden round a lake in the centre |
| Ticket, Nov–Mar | ¥10, ¥25 through ticket | ¥20, ¥50 through ticket | ¥5, ¥15 with the island |
| Ticket, Apr–Oct | ¥10, ¥25 through ticket | ¥30, ¥60 through ticket | ¥10, ¥20 with the island |
| Booking | Not needed, gate windows | Passport, 1–7 days ahead; gate window too | Not needed, tickets at the gate |
| Mondays | Open | Halls closed, park open | Temples closed |
| Metro | Line 4, Yuanmingyuan Park | Line 4, Beigongmen | Line 6, Beihai North |

The Summer Palace is the complete palace park — see it first. The Old Summer Palace is the add-on for history fans, two stops down the same line. If you can’t make the trip north-west, Beihai gives you a lake and an imperial garden in the centre.

## Beijing’s history sights compared

Historic places in Beijing rated by YesGo.

- [Tiananmen Square](https://yesgo.io/china/beijing/tiananmen-square) — YesGo score 68/100 (Yes, go) · 45 min · Free, passport booking
- [Forbidden City](https://yesgo.io/china/beijing/forbidden-city) — YesGo score 61/100 (Yes, go) · 3 h 30 min · ¥40 Nov–Mar, ¥60 Apr–Oct
- [Chairman Mao Memorial Hall](https://yesgo.io/china/beijing/mao-mausoleum) — YesGo score 55/100 (Yes, go) · 30 min · Free, booking required
- [Temple of Heaven](https://yesgo.io/china/beijing/temple-of-heaven) — YesGo score 52/100 (Yes, go) · 2 h · ¥10–15, ¥28–34 with halls
- [Great Hall of the People](https://yesgo.io/china/beijing/great-hall-of-the-people) — YesGo score 51/100 (Yes, go) · 1 h · ¥30, students ¥15; WeChat booking
- [Tiananmen Gate](https://yesgo.io/china/beijing/tiananmen-gate) — YesGo score 49/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 45 min · ¥15, concession ¥5, booking only
- [National Museum of China](https://yesgo.io/china/beijing/national-museum-of-china) — YesGo score 44/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 2 h 30 min · Free, passport booking
- [Wangfujing Street](https://yesgo.io/china/beijing/wangfujing-street) — YesGo score 43/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h · Free
- [Beijing hutongs](https://yesgo.io/china/beijing/beijing-hutongs) — YesGo score 42/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h 30 min · Free; rickshaw about ¥100–200
- [Nanluoguxiang](https://yesgo.io/china/beijing/nanluoguxiang) — YesGo score 40/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h · Free, open 24 hours
- [Houhai Lake and Shichahai](https://yesgo.io/china/beijing/houhai-lake) — YesGo score 38/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h 30 min · Free
- [Jingshan Park](https://yesgo.io/china/beijing/jingshan-park) — YesGo score 37/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 45 min · ¥2, ¥10 during exhibitions
- [Lama Temple (Yonghe Temple)](https://yesgo.io/china/beijing/lama-temple) — YesGo score 36/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h · ≈ ¥25, booked in WeChat
- [Old Summer Palace (Yuanmingyuan)](https://yesgo.io/china/beijing/old-summer-palace) — YesGo score 34/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 2 h 30 min · ¥10, ¥25 with the ruins
- [Drum and Bell Towers](https://yesgo.io/china/beijing/beijing-drum-and-bell-towers) — YesGo score 34/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h · ¥30 for both towers
- [Beihai Park](https://yesgo.io/china/beijing/beihai-park) — YesGo score 33/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 2 h · ¥5–10, ¥15–20 with the island
- [Confucius Temple and Imperial Academy](https://yesgo.io/china/beijing/beijing-confucius-temple) — YesGo score 33/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h 15 min · ¥30, one ticket with the Guozijian
- [Summer Palace](https://yesgo.io/china/beijing/beijing-summer-palace) — YesGo score 33/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 3 h 30 min · ¥20–30, ¥50–60 through ticket
- [Prince Gong's Mansion](https://yesgo.io/china/beijing/prince-gong-mansion) — YesGo score 33/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h 30 min · ¥40, book ahead with passport
- [798 Art Zone](https://yesgo.io/china/beijing/798-art-zone) — YesGo score 32/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 2 h 30 min · Free; some exhibitions charge
- [Great Wall at Badaling](https://yesgo.io/china/beijing/badaling-great-wall) — YesGo score 27/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 3 h · ¥40 entry; ¥35 November–March
- [Beijing Zoo](https://yesgo.io/china/beijing/beijing-zoo) — YesGo score 26/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 3 h · ¥10–15, ¥14–19 with pandas
- [Ming Tombs](https://yesgo.io/china/beijing/ming-tombs) — YesGo score 23/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 2 h 30 min · ¥20–40 per site, ¥30–60 in summer
- [Great Wall at Juyongguan](https://yesgo.io/china/beijing/juyongguan-great-wall) — YesGo score 20/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 2 h 30 min · ¥35 entry; ¥40 April–October
- [Great Wall at Mutianyu](https://yesgo.io/china/beijing/great-wall-mutianyu) — YesGo score 19/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 4 h · ¥40–45 entry; cable car ¥100–140
- [Gubei Water Town and Simatai Great Wall](https://yesgo.io/china/beijing/gubei-water-town) — YesGo score 16/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 4 h · ¥140 entry; ¥170 with Simatai wall

## North-west Beijing in a day

Pandas at the zoo in the morning, Line 4 north to the Summer Palace, then the ruins of the Old Summer Palace in the afternoon — all on one metro line. Add them to your route — YesGo fits in the timing and transfers.

1. [Beijing Zoo](https://yesgo.io/china/beijing/beijing-zoo) — YesGo score 26/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 3 h · ¥10–15, ¥14–19 with pandas
2. [Summer Palace](https://yesgo.io/china/beijing/beijing-summer-palace) — YesGo score 33/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 3 h 30 min · ¥20–30, ¥50–60 through ticket
3. [Old Summer Palace (Yuanmingyuan)](https://yesgo.io/china/beijing/old-summer-palace) — YesGo score 34/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 2 h 30 min · ¥10, ¥25 with the ruins

## Good to know

Don’t confuse it with the [Summer Palace](https://yesgo.io/china/beijing/beijing-summer-palace) (Yiheyuan), the intact lakeside palace park about 3 km west, with its own ticket and passport booking. The Old Summer Palace is the ruin: cheaper, no booking needed, and open every day. There’s no dress code, and food inside is limited — bring water and a snack.

## Tips

- Get the **through ticket** straight away — basic entry doesn’t let you into the Western Mansions ruins.
- See the model exhibition before the ruins; it shows what stood on the empty lawns.
- Short cut: taxi to the East Gate, see the ruins, then walk through the park to the South Gate and the metro.
- In summer, come early: the lotus ponds are cooler and the Great Fountain is empty.
- Google Maps is blocked in China without roaming or a VPN — save an offline map and 圆明园 before you go.
- Pair it with the Summer Palace, two stops north on Line 4 at Beigongmen.
- Cafés are few and far apart inside — carry water and a snack.

## Questions

### How much is an Old Summer Palace ticket?

Entry is ¥10. The ¥25 through ticket adds the Western Mansions ruins and the model exhibition. Prices are the same all year; concessions are ¥5 and ¥10.

### Do I need the through ticket?

Yes, if you want to see the famous stone ruins — the Great Fountain, Haiyantang and the maze are in a separate area that basic entry doesn’t cover.

### Do I need to book Old Summer Palace tickets in advance?

No. Ticket windows at the gates sell on the day; you can also buy in the park’s WeChat mini-program. Bring your passport anyway.

### What are the Old Summer Palace opening hours?

Every day. November–March: entry 7:00–17:30, closes 19:30. April–October: entry until 19:00, closes 21:00. Through tickets stop at 15:30 and 17:00.

### How do I get to the Old Summer Palace?

Line 4 to Yuanmingyuan Park, Exit B, for the South Gate. From Tiananmen, change from Line 1 to Line 4 at Xidan — about 45 minutes in all.

### Which gate is closest to the ruins?

The East Gate, about 500 m from the Great Fountain. The South Gate is next to the metro but about half an hour’s walk from the ruins.

### How long do you need at the Old Summer Palace?

Two to two and a half hours for the ruins, the maze and the model; half a day if you also walk round the lakes.

### What happened to the Old Summer Palace?

In October 1860, at the end of the Second Opium War, Anglo-French troops looted it, and on 18 October Lord Elgin ordered it burned. It was never rebuilt.

### Is the Old Summer Palace the same as the Summer Palace?

No. The Summer Palace (Yiheyuan) is the intact lakeside park about 3 km west; the Old Summer Palace (Yuanmingyuan) is the ruined garden, with its own ticket.

### Can you visit both in one day?

Yes. They are two stops apart on Line 4. Do the Summer Palace in the morning and the Old Summer Palace after lunch, before the through ticket stops selling.

## How we checked

Prices, concessions, free days, ticket windows and the address come from the official park website’s price page; it is old, but Visit Beijing and current guides give the same ¥10, ¥15, ¥10 and ¥25. Winter sales and closing times come from the official home page. Summer hours and the 6:00 / 6:30 gate opening appear only in Beijing Bendibao and Travel China Guide, so they are marked checking; an older Visit Beijing article gave different hours. No source mentions a Monday closure. Free entry for foreign under-18s and over-60s with a passport comes from a guide; the park’s rules only say “valid ID”. Walking distances to the ruins are our own straight-line measurements from OpenStreetMap and Wikidata coordinates. Accounts differ on who set the fires in 1860, so we state what the official site and the encyclopedias agree on: Anglo-French troops, on Lord Elgin’s order. Area figures range from 347 to 352 ha, so we say about 350. We couldn’t confirm the current status of the horse head display, so we don’t list it as a sight.

## Sources

- Official Yuanmingyuan Park website (yuanmingyuanpark.cn): ticket prices, concessions, free days, gate ticket windows, online sales, winter sales and closing hours, address, park history introduction
- Beijing Bendibao — seasonal hours, gate opening times, through-ticket cut-off (unofficial)
- Visit Beijing (official Beijing tourism portal), Old Summer Palace article (2021) — prices, metro, gates
- China Bound — prices, Fuhai Lake, lotus (unofficial)
- Travel China Guide — hours, free entry with a passport under 18 and over 60, Exit B (unofficial)
- Beijing News and Visit Beijing (2020) — return of the bronze horse head and its display at Zhengjue Temple
- English, Russian and Chinese Wikipedia: Old Summer Palace, Юаньминъюань, 圆明园; Wikidata Q907894
- English Wikipedia: Beijing Subway Line 4; OpenStreetMap — station and gate locations

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