Summer Palace
Summer Palace is a Chinese Wonder that advances the civilization, sends Food and automatically spawns a War Academy banner army. It pairs an economic reward with continuing military production.
Recorded values
- Available
- Exploration Age; Commerce Age; Fortress Age; Industrial Age
- Builder
- Asian Villager and its counterparts
- Function
- Advances the player into the next Age; Ships food when built; Automatically spawns a War Academy banner army
- Construction
- up to 8 builders · limit 1
- Structure
- 5,000 hit points · 12 line of sight · 7x8 footprint
Function & construction
The Food arrives as the completion reward, while the War Academy banner army is produced automatically by the Palace. Its output is not the same as manually selecting individual units at a War Academy.
Placement & timing
Choose it when a Food boost and automatic army production support the transition. Protect the Palace and account for the army’s arrival in the defense or attack plan rather than assuming it is an instant universal reinforcement.
Chinese Wonder and army support
Summer Palace is a Chinese Wonder selected during an age advance. Its reward provides an army shipment that develops as the game progresses, giving China units without waiting for a normal production queue. The Wonder remains a structure after the transition and can continue to provide military value through its associated production or shipment functions. Chinese age-up decisions should compare Summer Palace with alternatives such as White Pagoda, Temple of Heaven and Confucian Academy, because each Wonder supplies a different benefit. The Palace is useful when an immediate mixed force can stabilize the next phase or join a planned push. Protect Asian Villagers while they construct it, choose a safe placement that lets the arriving units gather, and avoid selecting it if the army needs a different kind of reward. As the Chinese roster is organized around unique units and shipment choices, the Wonder’s specific reward should be considered alongside the player’s current composition, not in isolation. Check the current game release for exact unit counts and age-specific reward details.
Reward timing across the ages
The Summer Palace’s age-up reward is valuable because it adds military units at the moment the player changes phase, when the army may otherwise be temporarily behind in production. Decide where the shipment should gather before the Wonder is complete and avoid sending the reward into a fight before it can link up with the main force. Compare this timing with White Pagoda’s Disciples, Temple of Heaven’s economic support and Confucian Academy’s artillery-related options. The choice depends on whether China needs an immediate army, a different specialized reward or a stronger economy for the next transition. Asian Villagers construct the Wonder, so protect them during the build and continue normal production where resources permit. The Palace should support a plan for the next engagement rather than act as an automatic age-up selection.
Chinese Wonder reward and automatic army
The Summer Palace advances the Chinese player into the next Age, ships Food when completed and automatically spawns a War Academy banner army. This combines a one-time economic reward with continuing military output, making it a different age-up choice from Wonders that emphasize research or a single shipment. The banner army appears through the Palace’s automatic rule rather than a manual War Academy unit queue, so account for its timing and composition when planning the defense or attack. The Wonder has 5,000 hit points and a 7-by-8 footprint; construction is a major commitment that should happen where the site can be protected.
Choosing the Wonder and protecting the transition
The Summer Palace is available across the listed age advances and is built by Asian Villagers and their counterparts. Its value depends on whether Food and automatic banner reinforcements support the next phase better than another Wonder’s rewards. Keep the site safe during construction, leave population space for the incoming army and coordinate its arrival with the units already in the field. Because the Palace continues to generate military value, losing it can interrupt the plan; defend it with a mobile force and do not place it where the enemy can siege it without response. Build when the economy can both pay for the Wonder and maintain ordinary production afterward.