Much to my surprise, this turned out to be my favourite site in Beijing. I had originally only scheduled a few hours to explore it, however a bit of a re-jig of my plans allowed a slightly more relaxed pace to my time in the Chinese capital.

I entered through the northern gate and had a huge amount of fun clambering up the hill and ducking into the huge amount of pavilions, follies and temples. This provided magnificent views over the lake that is the centre of the palace complex. My particular favourite was the Fragrant Buddha Pavillion which was magnificently decorated and offered hard won vistas from the top of the many flights of stairs.

After ducking off to a quiet spot for some lunch I treated myself to a cruise around the lake, which was massively enjoyable in the bright afternoon sun. Back on shore the marble boat and painted colonnade showed the massive artistic merit of the site as well as its monumental excess. Having already done a fair bit of exploring I was happy to wiz through the crowded central palace complex and enjoy a slow sunset watching the elderly men flying kites over the lake. This was an exceeding lovely way to spend my last afternoon in China, and to my surprise really let me enjoy a palace complex.

A thoroughly enjoyable and decadent place, that rewarded a leasuirly half day of exploring, my favourite WHS in Beijing.

[Site 8: Experience 8]