Typical painted decoration on ceiling

Day #91: Summer Palace

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July 4th 2013
Apparently the Summer Palace expects 60,000 visitors per day, in contrast to the Forbidden City' 100,000, and it felt much more relaxed, covering a much larger area so everyone is more spread out around the park. My favourite part was Dowager Empress Cixi's Opera House, a tiered open-air theatre reminiscent of The Globe, where I could well imagine her in her private throne watching the ope ... read more

Asia » China » Beijing

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For centuries China stood as a leading civilization, outpacing the rest of the world in the arts and sciences, but in the 19th and early 20th centuries, the country was beset by civil unrest, major famines, military defeats, and foreign occupation. A... ... read more