Day 6: Beijing: Summer Palace, Panjiayuán Market, Beijing Hutongs - Night train from Beijing to Datong
Today we start the day half an hour later than these previous days, since today we have a most complete day visiting the Summer Palace in Beijing In the morning stop by the car to take a night train that will take us from Pakín to Datong, which will be our next stop on the trip to China for free.
After checking out at the 161 Hotel and leaving our luggage at the reception, we approach to McDonalds for breakfast a couple of American coffees plus two sweets for 63RMB.
At this time we also take the opportunity to write some postcards and thus buy the stamps and send them to the post office that is right in front of us.
After 9 in the morning, today we are taking the calmest day, we approach an ICBC that is near the hotel and we change some more money for these next days.
The change today is at 6.50. What a change a few years ago when I was almost 8 !! But it is what there is and we verify how true is the statement that traveling in this era with euros is 30% more expensive than a few months ago.
After these morning errands we go to the Donsi subway to go to Xiyuan, the subway stop that will leave us at the Beijing Summer Palace.
We arrived there at 11 in the morning and as soon as we left the subway station we already saw a shopping street where we already took a look thinking that it is not a bad place to eat when we leave and before going to the next visit of the day.
We pay 15RMB per person, this time they accept the student card, if they had not been 60RMB and there we will see another of the most representative places in the city: Beijing Summer Palace.
A good option to learn more about the history of the Palace is to book this guided tour in Spanish that also includes the Temple of Heaven or this one that includes the Forbidden City.
Summer Palace in Beijing
Unlike what happened to us in the Forbidden City or in the Temple of Heaven, here in the Summer Palace in Beijing, the feeling of tranquility floods us as soon as we pass through the ticket offices. You can book this ticket without queues in advance.
Emperor Qianlong expanded these royal gardens in the eighteenth century for which he used 100,000 workers to give greater amplitude to Lake Künmíng.
This lake occupies three quarters of the park, at the foot of the longevity hill.
The main structure is the Benevolence and Longevity room next to the east door, where we can find a wooden throne, next to a patio decorated with bronze animals.
Summer Palace in Beijing
Along the north shore runs the Great Corridor, made of wood and decorated with paintings. Just behind this corridor we can see the Longevity Hill, populated by Buddhist temples.
Summer Palace in Beijing
At this point, we enter one of the best known enclaves of the Summer Palace in Beijing: the Buddha Fragrance pavilion and the Cloud Room that Fades, united by corridors and crowning the hill on Buddhist temple of the Sea of Wisdom.
Views of the Fragrance Pavilion of Buddha at the Summer Palace in Beijing
Longevity Hill with the pavilion of the Fragrance of Buddha
From the top of the Fragrance of Buddha pavilion we have great views of the Summer Palace, so we recommend that you do not miss the opportunity to climb, despite the endless stairs.
Views of the Summer Palace from Longevity Hill
From here we approach the famous marble boat, another of the most visited places of the Summer Palace.
Marble Ship
At this point we decided to take a ferry to take us to the South Lake Island, where the Dragon King temple is. We could have gone all the way around the lake, but going with just enough time, makes us take this alternative, much faster and that will also offer us a new vision of Lake Künmíng.
Ferry on Lake Künmíng
After a walk in this area, we cross the lake through the bridge of the 17 arches and return to the area through which we have entered, again approaching a kind of viewpoint from where we have the best views of the lake and the hill.
Summer Palace in Beijing
Summer Palace in Beijing
In the end, when we look at the clock we see that a few minutes past two in the afternoon, so it is time to leave the Summer Palace in Beijing, to which we could certainly make it all day if we had time. We left for the subway, stopping before to make a fast meal for 59RMB in the area we saw when we arrived. It is 2:30 in the afternoon when we take the subway to Jinsong, for 6RMB per person to spend some time in the Panjiayuan Market where we want to walk in search of some crafts.
More practical information to prepare your trip to Beijing
- 50 things to see and do in Beijing
- 10 essential places to visit in China
- 10 essential tips for traveling to China
We arrived after 3:30 in the afternoon and we have had to travel nothing more and nothing less than 18 kilometers, or what is the same, 26 subway stops!
Panjiayuan Market
Upon leaving the metro stop, the inertia itself seems to take us directly to this market where every day there are more than 3000 vendors with their antiques and handicrafts.
Panaiayuan Market Interior
After a walk around the market and end up buying some handmade souvenirs that we have fallen in love with, we return to the subway, this time to the Nanlouchia stop, near our hotel where we want to take a tour of the hutongs in the area, recommended in the guide.
Buying in the Panjiayuan Market
We start the route starting from one of the Beijing's most famous hutongs such as Nanlou Xiang, where we turn right on Chaodu Hutong, a street where at number 77 we find the mansion of Seng Gelinqin, a general of the Qing dynasty army.
Hutong Chaodu
Book the best rated tours and excursions in Spanish from Beijing by travelers:
- Excursion to the Great Wall of China
- Beijing's Top 3 in one day
- Beijing contrasts
- Temple of Heaven and Summer Palace
- Acrobatic show at the Chaoyang Theater
- More excursions and tours here
Book the best rated tours and excursions in Spanish from Beijing by travelers:Once we reach number 53 we turn left through an undulating alley, without a name, and after a few meters, we turn left again, this time in Banchang Hutong.
From here, arriving at portal number 19, we turn right through a curious portal that takes us to Dongmianhua Hutong.
Beijing Hutong
From here we turn to the right, then to the left and go down an unnamed alley with a sign indicating the direction to Péngháo Theater.
Here we turn left again towards Beibingmasi Hutong until we reach Mao'er Hutong.
Sunset in a Beijing hutong
At this point and seeing that the itinerary continues to the Drum Tower and the Bell, where we were days ago, we decided to approach the area of Lake Qianhai, where the animation seems never to cease.
A sunset in one of the liveliest areas of Beijing, Di'anmenwai Dajie
The time has come to return, but we cannot do it in any way other than returning to Nanlogu Xiang, one of the most famous streets in Beijing.
Nanlogu Xiang Surroundings
Saying goodbye to Beijing
At 7:30 in the afternoon we return to the subway stop to return to our hotel, although before picking up our bags we pass by our usual restaurant, the Beijing Roast Duck where we repeat menu today, meat dumplings and a lacquered duck more waters for 197RMB that leave us as new.
It is a quarter to 9 when we have finished dinner and we go to the 161 Hotel to pick up our bags and get on our way to Beijing Railway which is where our Beijing night train to Datong, which we booked with Helen from ChinaDIYTravel, at 11:42 p.m.
In principle we told Helen to reserve the Beijing night train to Datong in soft bunk, but just the day they went on sale, they already went out without seats, so we had to make the first night train journey of the trip to China by hard berth or seat.
In the end Helen found the solution that was to get the tickets from Tianjin, which is the initial stop of the Beijing-Datong route and from where there were places (these Chinese are very clever and doing so make more money, since the journey is longer)
The first thing we do is go through the central ticket offices (outside the station) where they check your ticket and put a stamp on it after checking them with passports. Then you go through a couple of security arches and access the hall. There you have a screen where you can see the train departures, the plant and the waiting room.
Informative panel of the Beijing train station
Once we have all the data, we still have almost an hour left, so we are going to eat an ice cream to kill time and refresh ourselves a little 😉
Twenty minutes before departure they announce on the screens the platform through which our Beijing night train to Datong And they open the doors. You can not imagine the people who start running, trying to pass the first by the escalators. It is best to take it easy, as there is plenty of time.
We look for our wagon and access the compartment in which there are already 2 bunk beds occupied, so trying to make the minimum possible noise, we accommodate, we give the ticket to the reviewer, who changes it to us for a plastic card with our wagon number and compartment to let us know tomorrow half an hour before arriving in Datong and we go to sleep under a heat of aúpa ...
Day 7: Datong: Hengshan Hanging Monastery and Yungang Caves - Night train to Pingyao
