Huaqing Palace (Huaqing Pool)

Upon your arrival at the scenic area, you will be amazed by the imperial hot spring pool sites, ancient-style buildings, and attractive lake and mountain views. What’s more, a large number of staff members and also tourists wear traditional Chinese costumes, making you feel like traveling through time tunnel back to the prosperous Tang Dynasty. Below are some of the highlights inside:
 Inside Huaqing Palace, there are still five hot spring pools remaining: the Lotus Pool, Haitang Pool, Star Pool, Shangshi Pool, and the Prince Pool. The Lotus Pool was Emperor Xuanzong's private bathing pool, which looks like a lotus. Haitang Pool, also named Guifei Pool, is like a Chinese crabapple flower and was for Yang Yuhuan. The Star Pool was said to have no roof, so one can bath there while enjoying the starry sky. Shangshi Pool was for the officials, and the Prince Pool, of course, for the Prince.

Haitang Pool for Yang Yuhuan

To protect these sites from wind and rain, ancient-style buildings are constructed above, except for the Prince Pool. Right next to the pool are two lotus-shaped facilities with multiple hot spring outlets, and it’s highly recommended to wash your hands and face because the water is said to be beneficial for skin care.

Prince Pool in Huaqing Palace

Huaqing Hot Spring Outlets

 Another famous building in Huaqing Pool is the Five-Room Building, which is in the Huanyuan Garden. It was the shelter of Empress Dowager Cixi after the Eight-Power Allied Force captured Beijing in 1900, and was also the temporary residence of Chiang Kai-shek, the leader of the Chinese Nationalist Party during the world-famous Xi'an Incident on December 12 1936, also called 12.12 Xi'an Incident. On that day, it was at this place that Chiang was kidnapped by two of his generals and forced to unite all Chinese people to fight against invaders. Through the remaining bullet holes on the building, you may feel how intense the battle scene was.

Furnishings in Five-Room Building

Lake View in Huanyuan Garden

 

Newsgirl in Huanyuan Garden

Inside the building, old facilities are orderly arranged, and the Yangfei Pool, a smaller version of the Guifei Pool for Concubine Yang can be found.

The Huanyuan Garden, despite all the glory and turbulence, still remains its charm. A 1,200-year-old pomegranate tree gently leans toward the lake, and koi fish in vibrant colors swim among water lilies. Besides, performers dressing up as newsboys, cigarette sellers, patriotic students, and passers-by in Cheongsams bring you back to the unstable and dynamic era of the Republic of China (1912-1949).
 The Pear Garden in Huaqing Pool is the most famous imperial theater in China. In the Garden, Emperor Xuanzong and his concubine Yang Yuhuan created many tunes and dances. However, the most famous one, Ni Shang Yu Yi Qu has been long-lost. Nowadays, the pear garden stage has been built for actors to give interactive performances.

West of the Pear Garden stands Frost Flying Hall, aka Feishuang Hall in Chinese, the bedroom palace of Emperor Xuanzong. The name, Frost Flying, comes from an interesting story. It’s said that the whole hall is quite warm even in winter due to the hot springs. When the snow fell down upon it, all snow turned into frost at once.
 

Nine-Dragon Lake View

South of the Pear Garden and Frost Flying Hall lies the Nine-Dragon Lake, covering about 530 square meters (630 square yards). The lake is divided into two parts by the long Nine-Dragon Bridge. Actually, there are only eight dragon stone carvings on the bridge. The ninth is carved under a pavilion by the lake.

The lake further features the stage of the show “Song of the Everlasting Sorrow”, which is descended under the water during the day and lifted at night for the performance. It’s surprising that some highlight scenes of the night-time show are performed here in the daytime.
 Mount Li is part of the Huaqing Palace Scenic Area, and is famous for the Beacon Tower fortification of the Western Zhou Dynasty. Standing on the top of the 1,300-meter-high (4,250 feet) mountain, a panoramic view of the Huaqing Palace and surrounding areas can be gained.

Our Guests at Huaqing Pool

Overlook of Huaqing Pool from Mount Li

 Not visit Mount Li: Wangjing Gate / West Gate - Furong Lake - Nine-dragon Lake - Imperial Pools - Xiuwen Hall or Pear Garden Stage - Huanyuan Garden including Five-room Building - Pear Garden - Jinyang Gate / East Gate;

Visit the whole scenic area: Wangjing Gate / West Gate - take cableway to the mountainside of Mount Li - Laomu Palace - Beacon Tower - Huanyuan Garden including Five-room Building - Imperial Pools - Jinyang Gate / East Gate.
 There are two main performances: The above mentioned “Song of Everlasting Sorrow” featuring the love story of Emperor Xuanzong and Concubine Yang, and also “12.12 Xi’an Incident”, which shows details of the famous incident by professional actors and through close-up special effects. Besides, small-scale performances are given in different regions of the attraction all day long.

Song of Everlasting Sorrow

Performance in Huaqing Palace

   

Performance	The Song of Everlasting Sorrow	12.12 Xi'an Incident
Ticket Fee	Eastern and Western Areas: CNY 269/299/309/339; Central Area: CNY 339/409/389/409; VIP Area: CNY 588/888/988	CNY 268
	Free for children under 1.3 meters (4.3 feet) not occupying a seat.
Show Time	Ice and Fire Version from December to February: 18:30-19:40; 20:00-21:10; 21:30-22:40. A fourth show may be added during 22:45-23:55 on China’s public holiday, and please pay attention to the specific timetable released by the attraction. Classic Version from March to October: 20:10-21:20; 21:35-22:45; 23:00-00:10; 00:25-01:35. The forth show is usually performed from Friday to Sunday, and whether the forth will be performed should be checked beforehand. Note: The performance might be canceled due to extreme weather. Please refer to the latest notice given by the attraction.	The show lasts about 1 hour, and is performed seven times the most a day at 8:50, 10:05, 11:20, 13:30, 14:45, 16:00, and 19:50, and it’s suggested to check the latest timetable.

 Xi'an Bus / Metro Search
 

Entrance Fee for Huaqing Palace Scenic Area including Mount Li	CNY 120 Free for children under 1.2 meters (3.9 feet) or the age of 6
Opening Hours	7:30-19:10 Ticket office closes at 18:30 every day, and last admissions are at 18:40.