The Summer Palace

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12:00pm Beijing Saga International Youth Hostel
I woke up really really late. I slept throughout the night like i never slept before. I woke up at 4:00am and noticed it was raining heavily and went back to bed. When i woke up my whole dormitory was empty. The mat sallehs had left to the Great Wall. I hadn't plan on going today anyway so i went to the canteen, had myself some bread butter jam and watched spiderman DVD on the TV. I made a few friends today so feeling less depressed. I took a bath and got a cab to the Summer Palace.

2:00pm The Summer Palace
It was Sunday and The Summer Palace was one of the most visited spot in Beijing so it was CRAWLING with people. I was glad i didnt go to the great wall today. I can only imagine how pissed off i'd be when my photo's would come out with a mat salleh at the background. This time, i got myself an audio tourist guide (a walkman that walks you through the history and architechture of the place). I learnt a great deal about Shi Xin and her rule during the Qing Dynasty. She ruled during the great wall and was a conservative and she did not want any westerners to taint her beautiful China. Despite all the westerners efforts (buying her a car and sucking up to no end) she remained stagnant and reserved towards the ideals and technology of the western powers. She spent a great deal of her years in the Summer Palace and fancied herself an avid fan of the Peking Opera. In fact, all of the Qing Dynasties LOVED the Peking Opera to the point that they built their own opera house in the Palace itself. The Summer Palace grounds were HUGE and took me four hours to cover. And thats only covering half. If it weren't for other people pasar-ing the place, i would have liked to come here in the morning and spend the whole day here.

5:00pm Outside the summer palace.
I was again, extremely hungry. I took another cab to the other side of town into this area called Nujie. Theres a mosque and a good chance i might find food. When i got there i realized this town wasn't painted red like most parts of beijing. It was a mixture of green (islamic) and red (chinese). I went up to Nujie Libai Si (pronunciation: Nu-jia li bai shi) which was a mosque and noticed that it was under heavy construction. Its the oldest mosque in all of eastern china and had distinct chinese architechture with a pinch of arabic. I walked back and forth, round and around but i couldn't find an entrance. Then, I walked into a shop that read 'muslim service shop' and said 'assalaamualaikum' and all four chinese answered back. I gestured prayers and one of the immediately took me to the substitute mosque. Asar starts at 6:15 here so he took me to an eatery instead. It so happens that his name was also Ismail and we had a fit of laughter about it. Unfortunately i would not rather share his name, for he was a man that spat ALL THE TIME. So it proves (yes alwin, you were right) that culture and religion is not one and the same thing. Nonetheless, he was the friendliest chinese i ever met. We ate, prayed jema'ah asar and he kindly walked me to the nearest subway. I offered him Y10 for all his troubles but he refused, nodded profusely and said "Muslim" about five times. I obliged not to and set off towards Tian'anmen Square.

7:15pm Tianan'men Square.
It was raining too heavily. I got on a taxi and showed him my hostel address but even HE did not know where it was. I gave him directions (obviously i am better at map reading now) and got off and here i am.

8:21pm Hostel, Do not know what to do
I have no idea what to do now. HELP!! I need to get to the bank and pay for my Great Wall trip tomorrow. Yes.. Thats an idea. Tomorrows log will be more exciting, i promise you. Keep reading please.. It keeps my spirit up!

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