Summer Palace
Neil woke up feeling unwell but rallied to head northwest to the outskirts of town to the Summer Palace.Originally called "Qingyi Garden" (Garden of Clear Ripples), it was know as one of the famous "three hills and five gardens" (Longevity Hill, Jade Spring Mountain, and Fragrant Hill; Garden of Clear Ripples, Garden of Everlasting Spring, Garden of Perfection and Brightness, Garden of Tranquility and Brightness, and Garden of Tranquility and Pleasure). Like most of the gardens of Beijing, it could not elude the rampages of the Anglo-French allied force and was destroyed by fire. In 1888, Empress Dowager Cixi embezzled navy funds to reconstruct it for her own benefit, changing its name to Summer Palace (Yiheyuan). She spent most of her later years there, dealing with state affairs and entertaining. In 1900, it suffered again, being ransacked by the Eight-Power Allied Force. After the success of the 1911 Revolution, it was opened to the public.
View of the Summer Palace from across the lake
A man writing calligraphy with both hands on the pavement
A man writing calligraphy with both hands on the pavement
Entering the huge complex we headed straight to the main lake which frames a lot of the Palace. It was a chilly, overcast morning but was still a very impressive view. We spent the next hour exploring the southern part of the palace. It was very cold but Neil’s sudden urges to rush to the bathroom began to explain some of his grumpiness.
Neil had to try out the frozen river
One of the longest covered walkways in the world - beautifully painted
After eating some instant noodles for lunch (I alone) Neil decided to head home. This left me to explore the rest of the Summer Palace which was absolutely huge! Highlights included one of the longest roofed walkway in the world with some beautiful coloured painting and exquisite detail, a huge marble boat, beautiful views despite the overcast weather of the lake and surrounding areas, a large golden Buddha on the top of the mountain, numerous pretty hidden pagodas along the walkways, the back part of the Palace with buildings looking more Tibetan than Chinese, a small street of tourist type stores selling Chinese bits an pieces straddling a small frozen river, and exploring the large living quarters of the Empress. Not so flash was spending most of the afternoons looking for the entrance to the biggest temple of the Summer Palace. It was undergoing restoration and I’m still not sure if it was actually open or not!
The large marble boat
The back side of the Summer Palace took on more Tibetan looking architecture
The back side of the Summer Palace took on more Tibetan looking architecture
This little street - Suzhou Market Street - was close to empty - the tourists must come in the summer. It was pretty nonetheless
Across the lake from the main Palace complex this little island linked by the bridge in the photo provided beautiful views
posted by batik billy @ 3:44 pm
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