Blogs from Summer Palace, Beijing, China, Asia

When I first visited China many, many years ago, one of the places I really enjoyed in Beijing was the Summer Palace. It was definitely somewhere I wanted to revisit and finally the opportunity arose. I took the subway to Beigongmen Station. That was a bit of a novelty as when I'd visited previously there had been no subway and we'd been at the mercy of taxi drivers, who weren't exactly legit. I headed out if the exit and there were no useful signs here, like there were at the Temple of Heaven, to tell you which way to go. You have to turn back on yourself and walk for about 5 minutes to get to the ticket office. There were several different options for tickets and I went for the through ticket which covered admission ... read more

While I was in Beijing, at the end of the summer, the downtown was still very hot, heavily polluted and an escape, away from the chaotic city, was definitely needed. Around Peking there are so many interesting and lovely sites. I headed to the great Summer Palace, that is easily reached by tube from the city center. I left from "Xidan" underground station to "Beigongmen" station and in about one hour I was already to my destination. As I expected, I was welcome by numerous street vendors selling any kind of thing your heart may desire. The Haidian District is about 15km from downtown Beijing, but it was enough to regenerate myself by the stifling hot and tough contaminated air I inhaled. It was very pristine, the lash vegetation and flowers, surrounding the place and the ... read more

It was our first full free day in Beijing, so my roommate and I decided to explore via subway. After a full breakfast at the Swissotel, we hopped on the subway to The Temple of Heaven. This beautiful park hosts one of the oldest wooden temples in the area. The rounded construction of the temple was a site to see. The park surrounding the temple was filled with all sorts of locals. They were singing, dancing, playing Chinese checkers, cards, painting, tai chi, or just enjoying the gorgeous day in the park. The roses, trees, and greenery made the park a place of serene beauty. There was even a photo shoot of traditional Chinese wedding dresses, and we saw at least 15 different models around the park in stunning dresses. It was a busy day, but ... read more

Because the email is forever "connecting"and then becomes timed out Mingnon this is youalthough I do not know when easy access will be available again. I have stopped wasting the time to be disappointed. For all who are trying to make contact I promise to read the messages during this trip and at this time apologize to those who have sent kind words and not heard a reply ... one from 2010 ... embarassing... After that short message on to... The Summer Palace It was a 08:30 beginning to the day. We visited the Summer Palace first then took a trip to Olympic site and then went for rickshaw ride. In between had good lunch and even better dinner. Two full meals a day are starting be too much and it is only day four of ... read more

Today was another long but wonderful day. We were collected at 9am and driven to the Summer Palace, the private garden home for the emperor. This private estate and garden covering 600 acres (again Big!) was built during the reign of the Manchus (Qing) period. It was started by the third emperor Qian Long. This was a very powerful period when he started opening China to the west. The emperor built the Summer Palace as a birthday present for his mother's 60th birthday. In 1860 and 1900 the palace was destroyed by the Anglo French army. Three quarters of the area is water. Although the place was heaving with tourists (mainly Chinese) the tranquility and beauty still shone through. At this point I will interject with a report of a news item on Chinese television last ... read more