New Yuanming Palace

The New Yuanming Palace is based on the buildings of the Old Summer Palace in Beijing before it was burned down. It selects 18 scenic spots from the 40 scenic spots of the Old Summer Palace and is built on a 1:1 scale. Although they are all imitated scenes, one can still feel the majestic momentum of its royal garden. In addition, there are also theater performances such as ‘Dreaming Back to the Old Summer Palace’, combined with elements such as explosions and horse racing, which are worth seeing.


The New Yuanming Palace is divided into three major scenic areas: royal architectural complex, Jiangnan garden architectural complex, and Western architectural complex. The first major scenic area of the royal architectural complex is the royal architectural complex located on the central axis, including scenic spots such as Zhengda Guangming and Jiuzhou Qingyan. Zhengda Guangming is composed of the main palace gate, the Zhengda Guangming Hall and the east-west side halls.


The east-west side halls are the historical materials museum of Yuanming’s vicissitudes. Here, everyone can learn about the construction situation of the New Yuanming Palace through the exhibited pictures, texts and physical materials. The Zhengda Guangming Hall was the place where emperors handled government affairs in ancient times. The layout is arranged in imitation of the Taihe Hall of the Forbidden City in Beijing.


The golden throne and screen show the majestic royal style. Jiuzhou Qingyan is composed of three entrance halls. The first entrance hall is Yu of the Old Summer Palace, displaying the military system and equipment of the Eight Banners in the Qing Dynasty. The second entrance hall is the Fengsanwusi Hall, where the scene of Cixi’s first curtain listening to politics and the furnishings of the emperor and empress’ bedroom are displayed.


Behind is the Jiuzhou Qingyan Hall. Here you can see the imperial study where the crown prince reads and the scene when the emperor has meals. After walking out of the numerous palaces, what appears in front of you is the center of the whole garden – Fuhai Lake. The island in the center of the lake is called Pengdao Yaotai. The Jiangnan garden architectural complex around the lake is the second scenic area of the New Yuanming Palace.


It includes Qiutangyue, stone boats, Lianxi Lechu, Shangxia Tianguang, Quyuanfenghe, Wanfang Anhe, etc. In those years, Emperor Qianlong went down to the south of the Yangtze River six times and loved the lakes and mountains, so he ordered people to imitate and place them. The third scenic area is the Western architectural complex. The Western-style buildings are composed of Haiyan Hall, Yuanyingguan, Dashuifa and other buildings.


The architectural form imitates the Baroque style during the European Renaissance period, but also combines some Chinese styles. The roof decoration uses traditional Chinese glazed tiles. The pool in front of Haiyan Hall is one of the highlights of the Western-style buildings. There are twelve animal-faced human statues arranged on the left and right of the pool, which are also the twelve Chinese zodiac signs.


They spray water in turn day and night for one hour, about two hours. At noon, the twelve Chinese zodiac signs spray water together to serve as a timer. The reason why the twelve Chinese zodiac signs appear in the building is that when the Western missionaries designed it, the water-spraying statue was originally a naked girl. Emperor Qianlong thought that the naked statue was extremely indecent, so he replaced it with the twelve Chinese zodiac signs.


On the second floor of Haiyan Hall, there is currently an art gallery on display.


Opening hours: Open from 09:00 to 17:30 from Monday to Thursday and Sunday throughout the year; open from 09:00 to 21:00 on Friday and Saturday throughout the year.
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Service facilities: Parking lot: [Parking lot opposite the scenic area] Reference price: ¥10/hour; Address: Lanpu, Jiuzhou Avenue, Zhuhai City, Guangdong Province (opposite the entrance of the scenic area); Number of parking spaces: 50; The specific charging standard is subject to the site. Toilets: There are toilets in the scenic area, and all are equipped with obvious signs.
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Must-see tips: 1.
There are not many places to eat in the park. There is a “Imperial Kitchen” where you can have a meal. There are also not many places outside the park. However, there are cheap food stalls where you can have a bite casually.
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At the entrance, there is a photo spot for taking pictures in ancient costumes on the dragon throne. There is a phenomenon of cheating tourists and charging randomly. According to tourists, taking photos as an emperor or empress costs about one thousand yuan for three or four photos. There are also makeup fees and accessory fees. Please be sure to pay attention.


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