With cicadas chirping and lotus-scented breezes wafting, the Three Hills and Five Gardens in midsummer are lush with vegetation and encircled by clear waters. The historic charm of Eastern gardens bursts with vibrant life in the fervent summer days. Recently, the “Three Gardens Celebration” Three Hills and Five Gardens Cultural Market, created by Haidian Cultural Tourism Group, has officially opened!
Centered on the concept of “One Street Connecting Three Gardens,” this event links together four major cultural tourism segments — the Summer Palace, the Old Summer Palace (Yuanmingyuan), Tongqing Street, and the Three Hills and Five Gardens Cultural and Arts Center — in one sweep. Each location features distinct scenes and complementary business formats, offering both the timeless elegance of classical gardens and the down‑to‑earth vibrancy of urban streets and alleys.
Come here for a one-stop experience of diversified, immersive new ways to explore gardens — shopping, dining, photo-taking, and cultural learning all arranged for you! Which stop are you planning to check in at first?
Intangible Cultural Heritage and Trendy Collectibles Gather at the Summer Palace: Dual-Location Garden Market Renewal
Step into the Bafang Pavilion and Summer Palace Museum areas of the Summer Palace, where the bustling market atmosphere blends harmoniously with the serene garden scenery.
Over twenty distinctive stalls are neatly arranged along the pathways, with raw wood-textured display stands paired with elegantly simple vintage-style fabric banners, naturally integrating with the surrounding red walls, covered corridors, and ancient trees. As a gentle breeze drifts through the woods, cultural and creative accessories hanging beside the stalls sway lightly. Visitors passing by slow their pace, weaving between the various stalls, and the once tranquil garden corners now carry a relaxed, lively, street-life ambiance.
The “Blooming Summer Palace • Garden of Infinite Possibilities” themed cultural market, jointly created by the Summer Palace and Haidian Cultural Tourism Group, adopts a differentiated dual-location layout. Compared with previous garden markets that focused primarily on traditional cultural and creative products and handicrafts, this year’s market features its most innovative highlight: the first-ever introduction of the “first-store economy” into a classical garden. Three major brands — Sunny & Sandy, Starbucks, and Pechoin — are making their debut appearance at the Summer Palace, achieving a cross-boundary collision between trendy commerce and the cultural heritage of the ancient garden. This allows the Eastern garden to break free from the stereotype of traditional sightseeing, combining both classical elegance and youthful trends.
Ms. Wang, a local resident, immersed herself and her child in exploring the dual-location market, holding a freshly purchased hand-painted lacquer fan in hand, deeply moved. “I come to the Summer Palace every summer. Before, it was just enjoying the lake, walking the Long Corridor, and leaving after the stroll. This year’s market is especially thoughtful — it has intangible cultural heritage handicrafts and traditional culture education that children love, as well as trendy new stores favored by young people. Both the old and young can find their joy. The evening elegant gathering is particularly quiet and soothing; there’s no need to rush. Strolling slowly and savoring the atmosphere — this is the relaxed feeling that a summer garden visit should have.”
Tian Mengying, Deputy Section Chief of the Summer Palace Operations Section, introduced that this market breaks away from the traditional model of scenic areas simply selling cultural and creative products. Through dual-location planning that divides different functions, the daytime offerings balance intangible cultural heritage interactive experiences with trendy leisure consumption, unearthing the charm of traditional culture and enriching the range of visitor activities; at night, it leverages the Blue-Tone Elegant Gathering to create an exclusive night-tour scene, effectively extending visitors’ stay duration. “We hope to break the park’s single sightseeing positioning, fully integrating cultural experiences, trendy consumption, and leisure life into the garden scene, transforming visitors from hurried sightseeing passersby into immersive experiencers who savor the garden’s charm, and truly activate new vitality in the ancient garden’s cultural tourism.”
Lotus Scenery Paired with Elegant Gathering at the Old Summer Palace: Ancient-Style Market Atmosphere Fully Charged
In summer, the Old Summer Palace (Yuanmingyuan) features swaying lotus in the wind and serene, tranquil scenery. In the waterside area of the Fenghe Tower, a Three Hills and Five Gardens Cultural Market themed “Date with Lotus” has become a newly popular check-in spot within the garden.
Stalls are arranged in staggered rows along the river, with refined and elegant Chinese-style cultural and creative products such as blended incense beads, wood carvings, and Song brocade fan surfaces, matching the overall temperament of the garden. Many visitors pause while enjoying the lotus flowers to select cultural and creative treasures and take photos for check-in.
The Old Summer Palace special market creates an exclusive Three Hills Elegant Gathering for the lotus pond scene. Blended incense handicrafts, garden-themed cultural and creative products, Chinese-style accessories, and specialty trendy drinks are arranged in sequence. Distinct from bustling commercial markets, the overall atmosphere here is serene and leisurely. Many hanfu enthusiasts stroll along the lake in traditional attire, selecting a handmade blended incense pendant, collecting a set of garden-exclusive stamps, with waterside settings paired with lotus pond scenery — every casually captured frame is filled with Chinese-style aesthetic beauty.
The park has also specially designed a complete check-in stamp-collecting activity. Each exquisitely designed exclusive stamp records unique memories of the summer lotus pond, adding a sense of ceremony to the visiting experience. The specialty drink stall nearby is immensely popular — a refreshing specialty beverage paired with the full pond of lotus flowers before your eyes becomes a romance exclusive to summer garden visits.
Ancient Tongqing Street Bustles with Street Life, Connecting the Garden-Inside and Garden-Outside Experience Loop
Enjoy elegant gatherings inside the gardens, savor street life outside the gardens. Tongqing Street, located not far from the two major gardens, undertakes the leisure supporting functions of the market, creating a consumption and rest space outside the gardens.
The entire antique-style street is quaint and charming, with stalls for cultural and creative boutiques, specialty snacks, and refreshing drinks spreading along the street. A lively street-market atmosphere greets visitors. After finishing their tours of the Summer Palace and the Old Summer Palace, many visitors follow the touring flow to Tongqing Street to rest and recuperate, replenishing food and drink here, selecting souvenirs, and filling in the leisure consumption gaps during their garden visits, forming a complete experience loop.
During this market period, Tongqing Street has launched a series of interactive activities, including cross-garden exchangeable vouchers, district-wide check-in stamp collecting, and ancient-style NPC street parade interactions, enriching the fun of exploring the entire street. A visiting citizen told the reporter, “Coming to Tongqing Street market after touring the gardens offers a particularly rich experience. Inside the gardens it’s quiet and elegant with a strong cultural atmosphere; outside the gardens the street life is vibrant, with eating, drinking, shopping, and browsing all very convenient. The overall itinerary is fulfilling and perfect for summer outings.”
Three Hills and Five Gardens Cultural and Arts Center Night Economy Upgraded: Summer Cultural Season About to Kick Off
To fill the gap in nighttime cultural tourism offerings at the Three Hills and Five Gardens and activate summer night consumption vitality, Haidian Cultural Tourism Group has heavily invested in creating the “Midsummer Rhythms” Summer Cultural Season at the Three Hills and Five Gardens Cultural and Arts Center. Distinct from the elegant ancient charm of the garden markets, this venue focuses on a young, trendy, and dynamic summer night atmosphere, precisely matching the leisure needs of youth groups. The event innovatively integrates diverse scenarios of “music + sports + China-chic,” bringing together dynamic performances, trendy competitions, nighttime markets, and specialty cuisine. When the gardens fall into tranquil darkness at night, this place remains full of energy, with brilliant lights and enthusiastic crowds, injecting fresh vitality into Haidian’s summer nights.
“One market, four distinctly different visiting experiences — differentiated operations are the most distinctive feature of this ‘Three Gardens Celebration’ series of markets,” said a responsible official from Haidian Cultural Tourism Group. “The four locations each perform their own functions, forming a complete cultural tourism experience chain. The Summer Palace centers on ‘Blooming Summer Palace,’ focusing on the fusion of intangible cultural heritage and China‑chic, with dual day-and-night scene experiences that are both elegant and trendy; the Old Summer Palace closely follows the summer lotus scenery, focusing on elegant Chinese-style gatherings and immersive garden ambiance; the Three Hills and Five Gardens Cultural and Arts Center targets young trends, activating summer night vitality through culture and sports night economy; Tongqing Street receives garden-external visitor flow, filling the street with vibrant urban life and connecting the entire district’s experience chain.”
Tips
Activity Period: The Summer Palace and Tongqing Street markets will remain open until October; the Old Summer Palace themed market and the Three Hills and Five Gardens Cultural and Arts Center Summer Cultural Season are expected to conclude at the end of August.
Travel Tips: There is heavy pedestrian and vehicle traffic around the scenic areas. Public transportation is recommended. Please take sun protection and hydration measures for outdoor activities.
