Definitely Forbidden City is way more crowded. I think you should visit Forbidden City during the weekdays and Summer Palace on weekend! :) hope to be helpful

No estoy seguro, pero creo que 20 yuanes.

Only fast food... nothing special.

Hola! He mirado mi Lonely Planet y no dice nada de cierre el 1 de mayo... Yo creo que es un espacio tan turístico que no se ve afectado por los días festivos, aunque yo buscaría por Internet por si en alguna web se dan más explicaciones. Suerte y buen viaje!

The place is absolutely gorgeous... I would go winter or summer. It’s a must

I can't remember how long it took, but my advise is the take the subway. It's the best way to get around Beijing. Auto traffic is congested, so taxi is not the best way.

We bought ours when we got there. Even at the height of tourist season, it only took a few minutes.

Sorry for delay. No worry, you should take a hotel card with you and you will find taxis waiting when you leave palace. Always keep a hotel card in your wallet as people will always assist if you have written word. A lot gets lost in speech!

The easiest and cheapest way would be to take the Beijing Underground. You'll need to take Line 4 to Beigongmen Station, then exit via Exit D. There should be directions outside of the station that will point you towards the Summer Palace.

Out of all the places we have been to in Beijing my favorite was Summer Palace. You wouldn’t be able to see the beauty of it unless you go inside. I would also recommend to get an access to all of visiting places inside the palace as the total cost I believe was around 60 yuan which is very reasonable. We also took a boat tour inside the lake. Beijing is humongous and we ended up extending our trip as each places would take more time than I originally planned. Have fun.