After the Forbidden City, I took a taxi to go to the Summer Palace, which is quite far from the centre. This is probably the spot which surprised me the most in Beijing in a positive way, as I did not expect it.

It is a huge area in the northeastern part of Beijing, dominated by a big lake, and surrounded by nature and some small hills. A real relaxing place, which probably delighted many chinese emperors in the past.

For good and for bad, I went in Winter, so once again I did not suffer crowds of people, but on the other hand, the lake was frozen, and one would not sit down for a long time to enjoy the “fresh air”… 😉