It used to be the place where the olden Chinese Qing dynasty emperor spends his summer time, but nowadays it has become a major tourist attraction in Beijing. Finding myself there during winter, with temperatures below 7 degree celcius, I thought there would be fewer visitors but it seems that I was wrong.

the entrance

the half frozen lake

people walking & jogging

Lots of people were seen there as I set foot there early in the morning. The cold weather makes the Kunming Lake half frozen and I was told that it could get frozen solid when the temperature gets lower. Due to that condition, all of the cycling boats which normally flocks the lake were left parking by the lakeside.

at one of the gatehouse

the main palace building

me & zieman

Throughout the leafless tree walkway, a large number of Chinese old folks were seen there going for a morning walk and also there were a few tour groups wandering around with their tour guides. At one area there was also a group of people doing tai-chi, a type of Chinese internal martial arts which is normally practices for health benefits.

group doing taichi

inside the palace compound

zieman with the main palace building

one of the scenic view there

We had to walk around the palace compound for about an hour. Didn’t cover all the area because it was too large and also with the cold weather, I’d rather not too.

playing with the shadow

man painting chinese writings to the walkway

some chinese food sold there

walking back the walkway

At one corner, people are socializing and playing sports with each other. I saw this one couple playing with this one thing which looks like a large badminton shuttlecock. They were kicking the thing to each other and sometimes doing it with an acrobatic style. Another guy was seen juggling a stick and a few people are playing with the

the couple playing with the shuttlecock type thing

Overall the view was spectacular and I bet it would more awesome during spring and summer where you could choose to get a boat ride around the lake area.

took this just before I left

The entrance ticket to the palace was RMB20 (Which does not include admission to Tower of Buddist Incense, Garden of Virtue and Suzhou Street).  The all inclusive ticket is available for RMB50.