The Summer Palace

Yesterday Jack and I spent much of the day at the Summer Palace. Once again, it has a long royal history. The emperors and empresses of the last dynasty in the 19th century used it as their main residence for much of the year. We really enjoyed our visit, and could understand why this location would be preferable to the Forbidden City. It is like a large resort area or park. It is located on a lake which was used for boating, and the landscape is beautiful.

Guess what we did? I bet you guessed. We climbed 100 stairs to the upper level of this Buddhist Temple at the palace. Climbing a multitude of steps is no problem to the Chinese. I am always surprised by the age span of those climbing-young children to the elderly. I think Empress Cixi was probably carried to the top to worship, and then you wonder about the logistics of that!

This is the front of one of the royal residences. It was beautifully decorated.

I am standing in front of the Long Corridor which is a 800 yard walk way at the palace. It was used by royalty to walk along the lake and to and from buildings, and it is decorated with 14,000 paintings commissioned by one of the last emperors. People come to the Summer Palace not only to see a historical site, but also as a place to relax, take boat rides, and picnic. The corridor was filled with families enjoying the view of the lake. You don't see large families, usually there is only one child but sometimes two, and the children are given a lot of attention and affection. Also, the children are very well behaved and quiet. The families are often made up of grandparents, too. It is very interesting. After our visit, we went to the Silk Market and visited a nice pearl store recommended through P&G. And, Jack ended up doing a little haggling at a few stalls. I think he likes the give and take. When he finishes, the sellers always smile and shake his hand. There have been a few hugs, too. You know Jack. Last night we ate at a delicious steamed dumpling restaurant. When I got back to the hotel, my internet connection wasn't working, so this blog is actually being posted a little later than usual. Right now we are in Xi'an. Our first impression is very industrial with not much charm. A haze of pollution hangs over the city, which I had read about. We are debating on where we are going to eat dinner. There is a large Muslim influence here which could be interesting. Tomorrow we are going to see the terracotta warriors. I will report back!