The North-west

The Summer Palace and beautiful hills make this area a relaxing retreat from Beijing's bustle

The north-west of Beijing is a melting pot for the city's electrical, academic and imperial worlds. Starting at the Great Bell Temple, on the Third Ring Road, and heading away from the city towards the Western Hills, you'll pass through the electronic jungle of Zhongguancun, often referred to as Beijing's silicon valley, famous for its masses of stores and markets specialising in computer hardware, software and digital equipment.

Further out is Wudaokou, where the city's universities are concentrated. Epitomising Beijing's student cool, Wudaokou is awash with vibrant cafés, live-music venues and arty shops. The campuses of most universities are open to the public, and those of prestigious Peking and Tsinghua universities are particularly worthy of exploration.

The fantastic scenery of the area at the foot of the Western Hills and its proximity to the city meant that the area enjoyed imperial favour during the Qing dynasty. The Old and New Summer Palaces flourished under the Qings, who enhanced the already great natural beauty with the striking palaces, pavilions, hillside temples and pagodas that climb up to the Botanical Gardens and Fragrant Hill

Getting there

Taking metro line 13 from Xizhimen to Wudaokou is the easiest way to get to the north-west – Tsinghua and Peking Universities are both walking distance from the station. From Wudaokou you can either get buses or catch a taxi onwards to the Summer Palaces, Xiangshan or the Botanical Gardens . There are also regular tour buses running from Qianmen and the zoo to these destinations. A new metro (line four) will be running from Xizhimen directly to the Summer Palace by 2008.

University district

A hub of scholarly activity radiates from a cluster of no less than 68 universities that inhabit north-east Haidian District, also commonly referred to as the university district.

Among these are two of China's most prestigious academic establishments, Peking University, commonly referred to as Beida, and Tsinghua University. Tsinghua, renowned for it's engineering, boasts the likes of president Hu Jintao among its former students; Peking, known more for its excellence in the humanities, includes revolutionary writer Lu Xun on its list of famous alumni. Wandering through the beautiful, expansive university grounds you'll get a glimpse of the higher echelons of Chinese student life against the backdrop of campuses which are former Qing and Ming dynasty royal gardens.

The Arthur M Sackler Art and Archaeology Museum is well worth a visit if you have a spare half hour. Housed in the university's Archaeology Department, not far from the campus's west gate, what started its life off as collection of antiquities used for teaching and research purposes has grown into an impressive and sizeable collection of artefacts spanning 280,000 years and includes contributions from archaeological institutions all over China.

You don't have to go to the museum to see Chinese relics though. On campus there are also plenty of notable objects, many of which used to be housed in the Yuanmingyuan and were relocated after its destruction. These include the two stone obelisks (huabiao) that stand directly in front of the office building. These date from 1742 and used to be in the Yuanmingyuan's Ancestral Temple. The two stone unicorns (kylin) guarding the front gates of the office building were also formerly in the Yuanmingyuan.

A short walk east of Peking University, you'll find yourself at the west gate of Tsinghua University (also spelled Quinghua), accessible via Yuanmingyuan Dong Lu. Here you'll find the most ancient and picturesque parts of the campus.

Jinchun Gardens (Jinchun Yuan) was the central area of the earliest imperial garden site and a former royal residency, and comprises traditional living quarters, pavilions and gardens surrounded by a serene, clear-watered lake. To the north-east of the gardens is the Palace of the Ancient Moon, a courtyard building, which was formerly used by members of the imperial family as a study, but now functions as university offices.

To the north is Tsinghua Water and Wood (Shuimu Tsinghua). With its lotus flower-filled lake surrounded by weeping willows and rock formations, it is renowned for being the most beautiful place on campus and is often described as 'the garden within the garden'.

Further north is Tsinghua's sprawling student library. The original library building, located on the east side, was constructed in 1919. Other parts were added in 1931 and in 1991, under the architectural direction of Guan Zhaoye, a Tsinghua engineering faculty member, who designed it to integrate perfectly with the former buildings. The Great Hall, just south of the library, is a stocky Graeco-Roman building, built in 1920 – made up of four different sections, it seats 1,200 people.

The Palaces

A stroll through the grounds of the Summer Palace and Yuanmingyuan can be extremely pleasant in its own right, you're not required to know a lot about their history in order to enjoy them. However, some background adds depth, and is particularly fascinating because the palaces were in the foreground of the dramatic transition from ancient to modern China. What remains and what has been lost chart a tumultuous period of the country's history. It's also rewarding to look closely at the gardens and fountains – they are not merely open spaces but are, in a sense, microcosms and metaphors for the imperial spirit.

It's not hard to understand why the Summer Palace is one of Beijing's most frequented and well-loved sights. It's not just its picturesque setting at the foot of the western hills, surrounded by the expansive Kunming Lake; it also offers beautiful architectural examples from the late Qing dynasty all of which can be enjoyed from ground level, or at a bird's-eye view by climbing up to one of the temples or pagodas dotted across Longevity Hill.

Not far from the Summer Palace lie the ruins of Yuanmingyuan, which offer time-worn baroque arches jutting from the ground, overgrown wilderness and, thanks to a non-committal attitude to restoration, an authenticity lacking in many of Beijing's tourist sights. Created during the Qing dynasty and consisting of three gardens, Yuanmingyuan (Garden of Perfection), Changchunyuan (Garden of Everlasting Spring) and Wanchunyuan (Garden of Eternal Spring), the site is collectively known as Yuanmingyuan – and sometimes as the Old Summer Palace.

Western Hills

Beautiful scenery, cool climes, a good source of spring water and easy access from the city have made the Western Hills popular as a place for retreat and relaxation for imperial families over many dynasties. As is common with positions of elevation in China, the mountainside has attracted the construction of many temples and pavilions, and despite many having suffered depredations similar to the Summer Palace, much beauty – as well as breathable air – remains to be enjoyed.

Start by wandering around the gardens and conservatories of Beijing's impressive Botanical Gardens, located at the foot of the mountain range. Two kilometres west you'll find Xiangshan (Fragrant Hills), Beijing's nearest mountain.

Just 25km (15.5 miles) from Beijing's city centre, Xiangshan draws crowds of visitors everyday, particularly in autumn, and for good reason. This is when all the leaves on the mountain's smoke trees turn a wonderful shade of red. Xiangshan is also a lovely place to visit during the summer months since, thanks to its elevation and leaf coverage, it offers cooler temperatures and provides a refreshing reprieve from the sizzling city.

The Botanical Gardens and Xiangshan can be easily visited in one day. They are a short taxi ride from the Summer Palace and not to be missed.

Poppy Toland