The Nerve Centre is an innovative multi-media centre housing a bar, café, cinema and two venues regularly hosting music performances, film shows and various cultural happenings. The center is also home to the Foyle Film Festival (annually in November).

Impossible to miss — all the roads in Toulouse lead to this beating heart of the city. Plenty of dining options, shopping, and entertainment are available in and around the square. You can also have a look at the Capitole theatre and its entertaining program.

Built in the mid-18th century for the Qing emperors as a retreat from the heat of the Forbidden City, the Summer Palace is a vast imperial garden centred on Kunming Lake and Longevity Hill, both man-made. The lake was modelled on Hangzhou’s West Lake, with islands, bridges, and long covered walkways. Scattered around are pavilions, temples, and a recreated riverside street designed to look like a traditional market town. Later restored under Empress Dowager Cixi, it became her favoured residence. Today, it’s worth visiting not just for the palaces themselves, but for the long lakeside walks, shaded courtyards, and the sense of space that feels very different from central Beijing.