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Tiananmen Square (Tiananmen Guangchang) vs Summer Palace (Yiheyuan)
Tiananmen Square and Summer Palace are both highly recommended by professional reviewers. Overall, Summer Palace is preferred by most writers compared to Tiananmen Square. Summer Palace ranks #1 in Beijing with positive reviews from 7 reviews including Fodor's, Afar Magazine and Travel + Leisure.
Tiananmen Square (Tiananmen Guangchang)
Fodor's
Concierge
Travel + Leisure
Michelin Guide
Afar Magazine
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West Changan Street, Dongcheng District, Beijing 100006
From $0 /night
Fodor's
"The world's largest public square, and the very heart of modern China, Tiananmen Square owes little to grand imperial designs and everything to Mao Zedong."
Full review
Concierge
"This vast concrete expanse (it covers more than a hundred acres) is dominated by an unsmiling portrait of Chairman Mao."
Travel + Leisure
"Capable of holding a million people, the 100-acre Tiananmen is the world’s largest public square."
Full review
Michelin Guide
2 Stars
"The affirmation of absolute power is embodied in this 20ha esplanade, a megalomaniac creation of Mao, whose portrait still features as a backdrop."
i
Today, soldiers still parade every morning and evening.
Afar Magazine
"The world's seventh-largest public square is best known in the West for the 1989 student protests, but this is also where, on October 1, 1949, Mao Zedong founded the People's Republic of China."
Full review
Summer Palace (Yiheyuan)
Fodor's
Concierge
Travel + Leisure
Michelin Guide
Travel + Leisure
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19 Xin-jian-gong-men Rd, Haidian District, Beijing 100084
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Fodor's
"The greenery provides a welcome relief from the loud, bustling city. It also teaches a fabulous history lesson."
Full review
Concierge
"Once a warm-weather retreat for the Qing dynasty's imperial court, the Summer Palace... is a lovely place to escape the urban smog."
i
Arrive early to avoid crowds, or dodge them with a stroll around the water, as the Qing Empress Dowager Cixi might have done in the 19th century.
Travel + Leisure
"It must have been quite a schlep for emperors of old—who traveled in slow-moving palanquins along with hundreds of courtiers to get to this beautiful, serene lakeside palace."
Full review
Michelin Guide
3 Stars
"This summer palace was restored at great expense at the end of the 19C by the empress Cixi."
i
This enchanting site... should not to be missed.
Travel + Leisure
"Considered a masterpiece of Chinese landscape design, visitors can avoid the crowds by packing a picnic, renting a boat, and exploring some of the lesser-known halls and pavilions."
Full review
