So, here goes.... We arrived early on the 7th, after a loooooong trip, and spent the first day and a half wandering around the city, overcoming jet lag, working out the metro...all the boring stuff you do on the first day anywhere i guess. Then on the saturday, the 9th, we headed to The Summer Palace in the north west of Beijing. I'll spare you the history lesson, but as far as huge, sprawling, former imperial summer residences go, it is an impressive sight! it is set in a huge park, overlooking a lake, and in total comprises around 100 different buildings; halls, bedrooms, courtyards, temples, galeries etc. it served as the summer home for a dozen emperors or so, or the Ming and Qing persuasion until we (the British) with the help of our then
... read more