Day 2
I've already forgotten what order I saw things, so you'll have to forgive me..
Anyway, this was the day I saw the Summer Palace, Lama Temple and the Panda Gardens.
The Panda Garden wasn't exactly thrilling. We just went to the zoo to see some pandas that had mediocre living arrangements, but for China, it was a lot more than I expected.
The Summer Palace was my fav. for the day. We arrived at the man made lake that runs alongside the Summer Palace and we took a dragon boat across the lake.
Our first sight off the boat was a marble boat built by Empress Dowager after the grounds had been burned down. Our guide told us that the boat represented the emperor (really the empress- she really had the power) and that by using marble to build the "boat" represented stability in his power -the marble boat doesn't move, so it can't capsize. Empress Dowager spent a lot of money rebuilding the Summer Palace and diverted a lot of other money earmarked for other use in China. This is just an example of how she handled the run of China and a reason they gave for the quick fall of the emperor's reign.
Then we walked a ways along the Long Corridor. And yes, it is damn long. It's 278 meters long (whatever that is in feet?). The walkway was completely littered with symbolic paintings. It was made so the first empress could enjoy the scenery of the lake and garden while avoiding the rain and hot sun. Walking along the corridor and looking out onto the lake gave me an extreme sense of serenity. (Minus the mass of people). It was really nice.
Then (or maybe before) was the Lama Temple. This is the Lamaseri for Tibetan Buddhists. They said that 70 Lamas (Monks) live there now. This is also where the Dalai Lama would give teachings if he was in Beijing. Of course, now he can't.. :(
After my day trip, I went with someone named Cherry to try to rent some bikes to ride around Beijing. We didn't have any luck with finding bikes to rent (that didn't have an astronomical deposit fee), but we walked all over the area, walked down a Hutung (a traditional alley) and I ended up back on Wangfuging Street. (I also bought another XD card for my camera 'cause I was running out of space on my camera!) I showed Cherry around the market, bought a few things, then headed back to my hotel.
Anyway, this was the day I saw the Summer Palace, Lama Temple and the Panda Gardens.
The Panda Garden wasn't exactly thrilling. We just went to the zoo to see some pandas that had mediocre living arrangements, but for China, it was a lot more than I expected.
The Summer Palace was my fav. for the day. We arrived at the man made lake that runs alongside the Summer Palace and we took a dragon boat across the lake.
Our first sight off the boat was a marble boat built by Empress Dowager after the grounds had been burned down. Our guide told us that the boat represented the emperor (really the empress- she really had the power) and that by using marble to build the "boat" represented stability in his power -the marble boat doesn't move, so it can't capsize. Empress Dowager spent a lot of money rebuilding the Summer Palace and diverted a lot of other money earmarked for other use in China. This is just an example of how she handled the run of China and a reason they gave for the quick fall of the emperor's reign.
Then we walked a ways along the Long Corridor. And yes, it is damn long. It's 278 meters long (whatever that is in feet?). The walkway was completely littered with symbolic paintings. It was made so the first empress could enjoy the scenery of the lake and garden while avoiding the rain and hot sun. Walking along the corridor and looking out onto the lake gave me an extreme sense of serenity. (Minus the mass of people). It was really nice.
Then (or maybe before) was the Lama Temple. This is the Lamaseri for Tibetan Buddhists. They said that 70 Lamas (Monks) live there now. This is also where the Dalai Lama would give teachings if he was in Beijing. Of course, now he can't.. :(
After my day trip, I went with someone named Cherry to try to rent some bikes to ride around Beijing. We didn't have any luck with finding bikes to rent (that didn't have an astronomical deposit fee), but we walked all over the area, walked down a Hutung (a traditional alley) and I ended up back on Wangfuging Street. (I also bought another XD card for my camera 'cause I was running out of space on my camera!) I showed Cherry around the market, bought a few things, then headed back to my hotel.
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1:39 AM
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