Atlas of China
Yanqi Lake 雁栖湖Yànqī Hú
4A scenic area · Beijing, Beijing
- Time needed
- Half a day
- Days to budget
- Half a day
- City
- Beijing
- Region
- Beijing
- Type
- Nature
- Listed as
- 4A scenic area
About Yanqi Lake
A reservoir in the hills north of Huairou town, built in 1959–1962, whose shores were developed into the conference area that hosted the 2014 APEC leaders' meeting and the first two Belt and Road Forums. A renovation removed the old lakeside amusement rides, and the lake is now an open waterfront park with boardwalks along the shore, stepped grass slopes and a large lawn on the east side used for events.
How to get to Yanqi Lake
In Yanqi town north of Huairou town, Huairou District, roughly 60 km north-north-east of central Beijing and about an hour by road. After a renovation the area reopened in autumn 2026 as an open lakeside park, with some parts still being finished.
Nearby
- Great Wall at Mutianyu 慕田峪长城 under 10 km
Restored Ming watchtowers riding a wooded ridge, with a toboggan run back down - Ming Tombs 明十三陵 40 km
Stone guardians on the Sacred Way and an emperor's underground palace to walk through - 798 Art Zone 798艺术区 50 km
Contemporary art galleries and cafés in the sawtooth-roofed halls of a 1950s factory - Bird's Nest and Olympic Green 奥林匹克公园 50 km
The Bird's Nest and Water Cube, venues of the 2008 and 2022 Olympics, lit up after dark - Old Summer Palace 圆明园 50 km
Broken marble arches of Qing European-style palaces beside lakes of summer lotus
Also within 20 km: Hongluo Temple 红螺寺 (under 10 km), Qinglong Gorge 青龙峡 (under 10 km).
On the map
Open Yanqi Lake on the illustrated map to see the terrain around it and what else is close, and to add it to a trip.
Open Yanqi Lake on the map