Autumn at the Summer Palace.

These past few days in Beijing have been filled with bright, sunny days, and everyone on social media is sharing photos of their visits to various parks.

Some went to Wenyu River Park, some to Olympic Forest Park, others to Beihai and Ditan Parks—photos from all these places are everywhere, and they are all especially beautiful because photos taken on clear days don’t need any editing.

On Sunday at noon, we drove to the Summer Palace.

Entering from the West Gate—actually, every time I come to the Summer Palace, I usually enter from the East Gate and then walk around the West Causeway. Why enter from the West Gate today?

Because it was Sunday, and parking near the East Gate was hard to find, while the West Gate parking lot is very large with plenty of spaces.

Also, I think the scenery along the West Causeway is the most beautiful, so we entered from the West Gate to stroll directly along the West Causeway.

As soon as we entered, we saw black swans leisurely gliding on the lake. Their bright red beaks and jet-black feathers added a noble and lively touch to this autumnal scene.

By the water’s edge, with withered lotus leaves and drooping willow branches, the mirror-like water reflected the colorful autumn hues, evoking a classical mood of “listening to the rain on withered lotus leaves,” peaceful and profound.

In previous years, around the Winter Solstice, the golden light shining through the seventeen arches of the Seventeen-Arch Bridge always attracted many tourists to take photos.

Now, with more than a month until the Winter Solstice, we couldn’t capture the golden light through the arches, but from different angles, the Seventeen-Arch Bridge perfectly displayed its elegant curves and grand scale as an architectural masterpiece.

The bustling tourists on the bridge and the leisurely boats on the lake filled the still white stone bridge with a flowing vitality.

The “seventeen arches” of the stone bridge represent the passage of time, while the withered lotus and boats symbolize the cycle of life.

Autumn at the Summer Palace is full of poetry. The majestic Tower of Buddhist Incense is reflected in Kunming Lake, with golden glazed tiles intertwined with red and yellow leaves covering the hillsides, creating a grand and epic atmosphere unique to an imperial garden.

Withered lotus listening to the rain, willows brushing the water, the mist and quiet pavilions along the West Causeway carry a gentle melancholy and tranquility of “time flies, and life grows old.”

The pair of black swans, the boats gliding across the lake, and the visitors on the shore all breathe life and warmth into this still poetic scene.