Suzhou Street — Local services in Beijing

Neat little lake in the north of the Summer Palace area, built around 300 years ago and designed to look like the water town in Jiangsu Province for which it is named (the real Suzhou is far more beautiful IMO). You can see Suzhou Street from above for the normal entrance ticket, but in order to go down to the water level for a stroll, you have to buy the more expensive combination ticket (or pay separately for the Suzhou Street ticket at gate guarding its entrance). The extra price to go town to the water level isn't much (especially by Western standards), but all you'll find down there besides different angles of the architecture you can see from above is a whole bunch of hawker stands selling chintzy souvenirs to tourists. You might as well pay the extra to go down there (especially since some of the other sites on the combination ticket are worth the extra costs in and of themselves), but if money is extremely tight, you can still get the gist of it from the...

You can see and imagine the palace at it's formal glory. It used to be such a magnificent place, with all the little prince and princess running around with all the servants. However don't be disappointed if it is not maintained to the standard where you would expect, given it is a national heritage. The river is green with algae, and the buildings are quite run down, poorly maintain. Don't eat in the restaurant along the Suzhou Street, it claimed to have the best home made dumpling, good to enjoy the atmosphere of it's former glory, but don't get shocked when you get the bill...

Hidden behind the Summer Palace is Suzhou Street. A sometimes-narrow pathed collection of shops, restaurants and workshops. It's a busy bustling mix of tourists and locals enjoying the sights.

You can simply wander around, or take a boat trip along the river. There is plenty to see and do, you'll easily spend a couple of hours taking it all in.

You can also pass through here to reach the rear of the Summer Palace by climbing the north face...