Summer Palace (Yiheyuan)

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.