The Old Summer Palace Scavenger Hunt!

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I love the Old Summer Palace. There is something magical and poignant about it that makes me feel like I’m stepping through the looking glass of History. Few parks in the world have the kinds of stories to tell that this one does, and it’s right in our backyards! But it can be hard for kids to wrap their heads around the magnitude and importance of this place. So I suggest a fun scavenger hunt to help focus your trip. Make a game out of what might normally be a boring history lesson, and get some fresh air in the process!

There are so many cool things for kids to explore on the grounds of the Old Summer Palace, so to narrow the field a bit I sought out the help of Beijing’s favorite tour guide (and True Run Media contributor) Jeremiah Jenkins. Below are a few noteworthy and kid-friendly stops. You don’t need to find everything on the list! This activity should be fun, and it should inspire the kids to explore, research, and discover on their own.

Wanhua Maze: Find your way to the pavilion in the center of this stone maze. The emperor would sometimes sit in the pavilion and have the ladies of the court race through the winding pathways to see who could reach him first.

The Original Bronze Horse Head: The “Zodiac Fountain” was a massive fountain clock, with the 24 hours of the day represented by statues of the 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac. At a given hour, the bronze animal head of the statue appointed to that hour would spout water! The heads were stolen from the palace when it was destroyed in 1860, but in recent years, seven of the original bronze animal heads have been recovered. The horse head was returned to China in 2020 and is now displayed in the park. (Hint: the horse head is not where the original fountain was. It’s hiding in a temple by the South Gate!)

The Bust of Victor Hugo: When the British and the French destroyed the Old Summer Palace, Victor Hugo wrote a scathing letter condemning the actions of his fellow Europeans. Hugo’s bust and a bronze replica book containing passages from his letter are somewhere in the park. Can you track them down?

The Place Where East Meets West: One of the amazing things about the Old Summer Palace is that it was a place where east met west in the days before airplanes made international travel easy. When Italian artist Giuseppe Castiglione (one of many European Jesuits working at the imperial court) showed the Qianlong emperor pictures of palaces back in Europe, the emperor asked Castiglione to build him a replica. While the “Western Style Palaces” only occupy a small portion of the park, the marble and stone ruins attract the majority of the park’s visitors. There is a very intricate scale model of the original park near the east entrance of the Western-style palaces. Can you find it?

The Black Swans: These beauties are originally from Australia. No one is sure how they made it to China, but in 2008, a family of black swans made the palace their home. See if you can find one. Bonus points if you can find a grey swan as well!

If you want to share pictures of your Old Summer Palace adventure with us, please submit them by sending them directly to our WeChat account. At the end of summer, we will feature some of our favorites!

Images: The Beijinger, pexels

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