[Suzhou Street in the Summer Palace @ Autumn Tour Beijing 2023]

[Autumn Tour Beijing 2023 Day5] Point 1: Summer Palace (part 1: Suzhou Street) Time: 11/11/2023 AM+PM Transportation: Metro Line 4, Beigongmen Station Route: SP: North Palace Gate > Suzhou Street > Paiyun Hall > Foshan Pavilion > Long Corridor > Marble Boat > Dehe Garden (Grand Theater) > Seventeen-Arch Bridge > Nanhu Island > EP: East Palace Gate ---------- Early in the morning at around 9:00, we excitedly arrived at the back garden and royal forest park belonging to Cixi - the Summer Palace. The Summer Palace is really huge and it is impossible to tour it all in one day. Due to time constraints and the fact that most of the attractions are concentrated in the north and east, we followed the general public’s choice and only toured the most essential routes (mentioned above). The Summer Palace is roughly divided into two parts: Kunming Lake and Wanshou Hill. The North Palace Gate is the back gate on Wanshou Mountain in the garden. The facade is ordinary, but once you enter the gate, you will see a brightly colored archway with the word "Fu Ci" inscribed on it. Just below the stone bridge is Suzhou Street. Suzhou Street, also known as Buying and Selling Street, was a tourist attraction modeled after the scenes of Suzhou and Hangzhou at that time. It was built on both sides of Houhu Lake to imitate the water towns in the south of the Yangtze River. It was built during the Qianlong period to imitate the style of the water towns in the south of the Yangtze River. It was a water street specially built for the emperors and empresses of the Qing Dynasty to visit the market. There are various shops on the shore, such as jade and antique shops, silk shops, snack shops, tea houses, gold and silver jewelry shops, etc. The shop assistants are all dressed as eunuchs and palace maids. The shop would start operating when the emperor was traveling. Of course, the shops on both sides of the water street are now closed. The colors of the shop facades have faded due to disrepair, and the small flags and wooden pillars of the shops are all in tatters. There are only our group of tourists walking around the water street, taking pictures and admiring the scenery. However, the scenery is still beautiful because the woods behind the shops are dyed with autumn colors due to the arrival of autumn. Just imagine what the scene would be like when the Suzhou streets became lively and bustling whenever Empress Dowager Cixi came to visit Suzhou? After leaving Suzhou Street, we continued south to see other attractions. to be continued **Suzhou Street is a scene in the Summer Palace that I personally like, so I will write about it in a separate article. ** . . #Beijing #AutumnTourBeijing2023 #Summer Palace #Suzhou Street .Early in the morning around 0900,