#AtoZChallenge in China: Kunming Lake

In today’s #AtoZChallenge in China, we go forward to summer and relax in a stunning vista in the city, Kunming Lake found in the Summer Palace.

I wrote a Bucket List article about my trip to the Summer Palace, one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Beijing. I was lucky to have visited it during a clear day last December, just days before a choking smog that enveloped the whole city for more than a week. My trip to Yíhéyuán (頤和園), its Chinese name, was part of a week long in-city travel when I explored other heritage sites like the Temple of Heaven and the Old Summer Palace (Yuánmíngyuán 圆明园).
Going back to Summer Palace, aside from its centuries-old halls and magnificent architecture, one particular and remarkable feature that wowed me (and many tourists as well) was the view of gardens against Kunming Lake, a wide pool just in front of Longevity Hill. The hill is where the “Palace,” or a network of halls and gardens, sit on.

K is for Kunming Lake
It was cold but not yet freezing when I went to the Summer Palace last December. And since it was a clear and cloudy day, the sky just reflected on the lake.

The whole of Kunming Lake extends about 2.2 square kilometers, or almost three-quarters of the Summer Palace. On the ground, the lake isn’t that deep; estimates show it is 1.5 meters deep in average, while its deepest part is 3 meters.
Kunming Lake is man-made. It is actually part of a reservoir at the southern foot of Longevity Hill. That reservoir accumulated water and was known as Wengshan Pool during the Yuan Dynasty. Over the following centuries, the reservoir was transformed into a water control project (the Ming Dynasty), and then into imperial gardens (during the Qing Dynasty).

When visiting the Summer Palace, I suggest doing it early in the afternoon (just like what I did). There’s enough sunlight to enjoy the palace grounds and to wander around, and then in the afternoon, just before sunset, the whole location turns into a breathtaking scenery.

For more photos during my Summer Palace trip, visit my blog, “Winter at ‘Summer’.”
Thanks for reading! Tomorrow, our #AtoZChallenge in China will talk about things or some preconceptions of a first timer in Beijing.
Featured image shows me on a dock somewhere on Kunming Lake. 

---

See more of my #AtoZChallenge: Chinese Adventure