The Hall of Joyful Longevity at Summer Palace - Beijing Destination Guide


	Home \| Coach Tour \| Private Tour \| Hutong Tour \| China Tour \| Chauffeur Service \| Hotel Booking \| Tailor-made Tour

Beijing General Information

Sight-Seeing in Beijing

Shopping & Market

Food & Cuisine in Beijing

Nightlife in Beijing

Travel Tips

Tour Packages in Beijing

Hotels Reservation

Home

< Great Wall Hiking Tours

< Forbidden City Tours

< Temple of Heaven Tours

< Summer Palace Tours

< Ming Tombs Tours

< Old Hutong Tours

< Panda Beijng Zoo Tours

< Lama Temple Tours

< Small Group Bus Tours

< Beijing Private Tours

< Night Show Tours

< China Join-in Tours

< Beijing Airport Transfer

< Car-Van-Coach Rental

< Xingang Transfer

< Xingang--Beijing Tours

< Shanghai City Tours

< Xi'an City Tours

< Guilin City Tours

The Hall of Joyful Longevity

The Hall of Joyful Longevity at Summer Palace This hall was the residence for Empress Dowager Ci'xi, after it was burnt down in 1860 by the Allied Anglo-French Force, it was reconstructed in 1889. Every year from April to October, the Empress Dowager would leave the Forbidden City and live here in this hall until she died.

The hall is divided into four sections, many of the treasures used by the Empress Dowager are on display here.

The east outer room was the place Ci xi used to have her breakfast and tea.
The east inner room was her dressing room and a place for her to take a rest.
The west outer room was the place where she handled state affairs and sign documents.
The west inner room was her bedroom

You can see the two big procelain bowls there. They were used to contain fruits, which weren't meant for eating but for the fragrance, and the fruits were changed quite regularly. On the ceiling of the sitting room hangs an electirc chandelier installed in 1903, the first electric light ever introduced to China.

The large table in the center of the hall is for the Empress Dowager to have her meals. For each meal, about 128 eunuchs, cooks and tea servants attended, to her every wish in the 8 big courtyards, more than 100 rooms. Each meal, she had more than 30 kinds of porridge, over 50 kinds of rice or noodles, a choice of 128 courses of her imperial kitchen was subdivided into five bureaus, each was in charge of something special, like the bureau of cakes or the bureau of vegetables etc.

The Hall of Joyful Longevity at Summer Palace The Empress Dowager had a fixed routine for meals: breakfast at 6:00 a.m, lunch at 12:00, dinner at 6:00 p.m, besides, she would also have some tea.

Forty-eight people in this hall alone waited on her, in the Summer Palace, more than 1,000 people were always ready to satisfy her every wish.

You can also see two Guangdong embroidery pieces on both sides, on your left is a phoenix among 100 birds while the one on your right is a peacock displaying its full plumage. The phoenix is considered to be the Queen of all birds while the peacock is the most beautiful among all birds. The Empress Dowager wanted to get both, the power of a phoenix and the beauty of a peacock.

Speaking of embroidery, four famous places in China de-serve special attention: Guangdong, Hunan, Suzhou and Sichuan. Each one is specialized in some special subjects: flower and bird, mountain and river in Guangdong, lion and tiger in Hunan, cat and gold fish in Suzbou and carp and panda in Sichuan.

In front of the Hall of Joyful Longevity is a pair of bronze deer, a pair of cranes and two big bronze vases, these were homonyms with the Chinese words which mean "Universal Peace".

A point of peculiar interest is that within the garden is a big strange looking rock, there's a story about this rock, a Ming official called Mi Wanzbong was fond of the rock and wanted to keep it in his own gardens Mi was very erudite in the six arts and he spent nearly all of his money to ship the rock from Fangshan to his garden. Finally, Mi Wanzhong got bankrupt and deserted the stone by the roadside of Liangxiang, 30 Km away from Beijing.

Emperor Qianlong saw it on the way back from his south tour and ordered that it be moved to the Summer Palace. In order to put the rock at its present site, the Gate of Joyful Longevity had to be torn down to give way for the rock, and because of this, Emperor Qianlong's mother also complained because she considered breaking the gate was something not very auspicious.

| Back |

---

Beijing Summer Palace Tours

Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven & Summer Palace Bus Tour --- from US$ 30
Classic City Bus Tour, visit Beijing's highlight attractions to touch the face of the metropolitan city on this one-day tour. Departure: daily.

Badaling Great Wall & Summer Palace Bus Tour --- from US$ 30
This one-day bus tour includes visits to the most famous section of the great wall + royal garden. Departure: daily.

Summer Palace Half Day Private Tour --- from US$ 38
This half day private tour covers the trip to Summer Palace, enjoy your own car or van with your own tour guide and driver.

Badaling Great Wall & Summer Palace Private Day Tour --- from US$ 44
Badaling Great Wall, the most popular site, Summer Palace is the largest imperial garden of Qing dynasty, enjoy this one day private tour package.

Lama Temple, Summer Palace & Beijing Zoo Private Day Tour --- from US$ 45
Visit Lama Temple, Summer Palace and Beijing Zoo, enjoy this 1 day private tour package.

Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City & Summer Palace Private Day Tour --- from US$ 46
Highlight one day private tour covers the trip to 3 of the 6 major sites in Beijing. Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City and Summer Palace.

Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven & the Summer Palace Private Day Tour --- from US$ 50
Classic one day private tour package covers the trip to the Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven and the Summer Palace, enjoy your own car or van with your own tour guide and driver.

3-Day Beijing Private Tour Package --- from US$ 71
3-day private tour package covers airport transfer & the trip to the attractions: Badaling Great Wall, Summer Palace, Peking Duck Dinner, Tiananmen Square & Forbidden City.

Beijing Classic 2-Day Private Tour Package --- from US$ 104
The 2-day private tour package covers the trip to the attractions: Badaling Great Wall, Ming Tombs, Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven, Summer Palace.

Special 4-Day Private Tour Package --- from US$ 105
Attractions: Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, Summer Palace, Beijing Mongolian Hot Pot, Chinese Acrobatics Show, Great Wall, Ming Tombs, Wangfujing Walking Street, Donghuamen Cuisines Street, Temple of Heaven, Imperial Court Food.

5-Day Beijing Private Tour Package --- from US$ 112
5-day private tour package covers airport transfer & the trip to the attractions: Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven, Chinese Kungfu show, Badaling Great Wall, Ming tombs, Peking Duck Dinner, Summer Palace & Beijing Hutong by rickshaw

Popular 5-Day Private Tour Package --- from US$ 126
Attractions: Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, Summer Palace, Peking Roast Duck, Acrobatics Show, Great Wall, Ming Tombs, Temple of Heaven, Imperial Court Food, Beihai Park, Jingshan Park, Wangfujing Walking Street, Donghuamen Cuisines Stree.

4-Day Kaichuang Golden Street Business Hotel Coach Tour Package --- from US$ 151
Pick up from airport to hotel, join 2-day Beijing Badaling Great Wall & Forbidden City Coach Tour & Including 3-night Kaichuang Golden Street Business Hotel(3 star, including breakfast) accommodation & Pick up from hotel to the airport.

4 Day Beijing LuSongYuan Hotel Tour Package --- from US$ 187
Stay in the most distinctive courtyard, Beijng LuSongYuan Hotel. Pick up from airport to hotel, join 2-day Beijing Badaling Great Wall & Forbidden City Coach Tour & Including 3-night hotel accommodation, then pick up from hotel to the airport.

Xingang to Beijing 2-Day Private Tour Package --- from US$ 194
Pick up from Xingang to Beijing, 2-day private tour package covers the trip to the attractions: Great Wall, Forbidden City, Summer Palace, Ming Tombs. Then transfer from hotel to Xingang Port.

4 Day Jianguo Garden Hotel Tour Package --- from US$ 220
Pick up from airport to hotel, join 2-day Beijing Badaling Great Wall & Forbidden City Coach Tour & Including 3-night Jianguo Garden Hotel (5 star, including breakfast) accommodation & Pick up from hotel to the airport.

4-Day Beijing Wangfujing Grand Hotel Tour Package --- from US$ 224
Pick up from airport to hotel, join 2-day Beijing Badaling Great Wall & Forbidden City Coach Tour & Including 3-night Beijing Wangfujing Grand Hotel (5 star, including breakfast) accommodation, then pick up from hotel to the airport.

Xingang to Beijing & 1-night in Beijing LuSongYuan Hotel Private Tour Package --- from US$ 231
Pick up from Xingang to Beijing, stay in the most distinctive courtyard, Beijng LuSongYuan Hotel 1 night and 2-day private tour package covers the trip to the attractions: Great Wall, Forbidden City, Summer Palace, Ming Tombs. Then transfer from hotel to Xingang Port.

Xingang to Beijing & 1-night in Wangfujing Grand Hotel Private Tour Package --- from US$ 246
Pick up from Xingang to Beijing, stay in Beijing Wangfujing Grand Hotel 1 night and 2-day private tour package covers the trip to the attractions: Great Wall, Forbidden City, Summer Palace, Ming Tombs. Then transfer from hotel to Xingang Port.

Beijing to Xingang 4-Day Beijing LuSongYuan Hotel Coach Tour Package --- from US$ 247
Pick up from Beijing airport, stay in the most distinctive courtyard, Beijng LuSongYuan Hotel 3 nights and 2-day Beijing Badaling Great Wall & Forbidden City Coach Tour, then transfer to Xingang Port in Tianjin.

Beijing to Xingang 4-Day Wangfujing Grand Hotel Coach Tour Package --- from US$ 288
Pick up from Beijing airport, stay in Beijing Wangfujing Grand Hotel 3 nights and 2-day Beijing Badaling Great Wall & Forbidden City Coach Tour, then transfer to Xingang Port in Tianjin.

More Beijing Tours

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Copyright © since 2000 BeijingLocalTour.com. All rights reserved.
Booking Hotline: 86-10-64334033, 86-10-84569637
Mobile Hotline (24 hours): 86-13522888380, 13801051196
Fax: 86-10-64382877, 86-10-64364332, US Fax: 1-760-4656711
Address: No.1206, Building 5, Tuofangying Xili, Chaoyang District, Beijing, China 100016
For Reservation & Tour Enquiry: tour@beijinglocaltour.com
For any questions or suggestions about website tech, please contact: webmaster@beijinglocaltour.com

| Terms of Use and Privacy Policy |