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09 Jun 2009
We switched from our previous hotel to a cheaper one for our one night extension in Beijing that is located near the Wángfǔjǐng (王府井) shopping district. After checking in, we took a taxi to the east gate of the Summer Palace (颐和园, Yíhé Yuán). First built in 1750 CE, in the Qing Dynasty, it has been destroyed and rebuilt several times usually at great cost. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Our cheaper hotel
RMB 60 for the main entrance and admittance to some of the exhibitions
Here we are
The gates doesn't look like much, but the complex is HUGE inside.
It is a sunny day
Many buildings a sprawled around the gardens. Some are now museums.
One of the gatehouse buildings
A pavilion on the huge lake.
Aerial view of the Summer Palace's Lake.
Summer Palace lake with Tower of Buddhist Incense
. The entire Summar Palace complex is all around the lake! 
Walls with stone carvings
An entrance to one of the many exhibits. There is one for oranaments, theatre, etc
Inside this exhibit areas
Artefacts that used to be kept in the Summer Palace, made of jade and coral, etc
Make up building, in the theatre exhibit, where the artisans prepared themselves
A multi-storey Grand Stage for Opera
A mock up mini performance
A few of these huge strangely shaped rocks were up on display
The "Long Corridor" on the way towards the Tower of Buddhist Incense, the most striking building by the lake on a hill
It is adorned with pictures of mythical stories
The Tower from the base as we walked towards the entrance
Final;y we reached the base, now to ascend the hill
Dragon encapsulated in a wire mesh. Perhaps for lightning protection?
The important buildings are always adorned with figures from the Chinese myth on the roof. The more mythical creatures present, the more important the building.
Imperial buildings are so important they usually have an additional Diety in front compared to other buildings. Note the lightning protection.
The long climb up, there are at least two compounds with stairs like these to overcome
Panorama of the Summer Palace lake from the Tower. From this view it becomes apparent how the Qing Empire wasted its coffers. This artificial lake is man-made.
Looking down from the Tower of Buddhist Incense, this hill we stood on was also man-made.
Tower of Buddhist Incense
Thousand Hand Goddess of Mercy (Guan Yin) inside the tower
Exiting the Tower of Buddhist Incense from the rear
The Realm of Multitudous Fragrance
Close up of the Buddhas that make up the walls of the Realm of Multitudous Fragrance
Next we walked to an attraction called the Little Suzhou
It is probably a new section of the park
With old-styled themed houses beside a waterway
I wonder where this leads to
A Tibetan Buddhist Stupa in the Summer Palace area called the "Four Great Regions". Seems like the Qing Emperor patronised Tibetan Buddhism.
The Garden of Harmonious Pleasures
Walking back along the lake, we came across a Bronze Ox made in Emperor Qianglong's Reign to ward off floods.
The words were written by the Emperor.
Another pavilion
The Seventeen Arch Bridge, by now, we were very tired and decided to leave the palace. This place is ridiculously huge.
We went back to Wangfujing area around our hotel to meet up with the rest of our group for dinner. Here's the Snack Street right outside our hotel selling all sorts of strange mumbo jumbo.
I wouldn't eat these fried starfish or weird bugs if I were you. In fact, this seems to a tourist gimmick, I don't see any locals eating these things.
We came to the famous Quanjude (全聚德) Beijing Roast Duck restaurant that has been around since the Qing dynasty in 1864 CE.
The best part of the roast duck, the skin!
Other parts of the duck is chopped up with meat, they will take the bones in exchange for duck bone soup (or you can bring the bones home to make your own soup)
Yummy, nice white sheets to wrap the duck in, they also give you a card stating the duck number served to you since 1894 CE. No one knows if it's an accurate number.
After dinner, we walked to Tiananmen, and the huge people's square in front of it. It is the entrance to the Forbidden Palace.
It was here that Mao gave his famous speech proclaiming the People's Republic.
I think this is the legislative assembley building.
Monument to the People's Heroes, with Mao Zedong's Mausoleum behind it, all in a straight line with the Tiananmen, the Forbidden Palace, and finally with the Olympic Complex
On the way back we walked into one of the side streets in Wangfujing.
Live scorpions and seahorses on a stick. Now I wouldn't eat those. I don't see any locals eating it either.
Here's the place to bargain for cheap souvenirs!
We finally returned to our hotel exhausted from the walking. The attractions here are huge compared to most places. The Summer Palace, will easily take up 4 hours to visit most of the main parts. Tomorrow, we will visit the Forbidden Palace, the seat of power of the Ming and Qing Dynasties. It will be another long visit.
View the next related post here. Return to the trip index here.
View the next related post here. Return to the trip index here.
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