Beijing Day 5 - Beihai Park

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Hey All,

Decided to take things a bit easier today and went to Beihai Park (ancient imperial gardens) which is a short walk from where we are staying.

It was amazing, there was loads to see and they seem to be going all out with the flowers and displays at the mo due to the 60th anniversary. The Bonsai trees are huge, when I think of the tiny one we used to have and killed, its amazing how they maintain them. There were also people chanting, dancing and playing instruments throughout the park. Seems that it is definitely a place of escape from the city.

There is a massive lake in the middle, where there are boats taking people to an island in the centre and you can take boats out yourselves (we didn't since our legs are a bit sore from yesterday and didn't think we could stand the peddling). The centre piece of the park is the White Dagoda, which was bulit as a symbol for the belief of Buddhism.

Some of the shots again look hazy but I think they look quite arty so tried to get some good uns for framing when we get home. Even managed to ask someone to take a picture of us together (quite an achievement - well not really since we just pointed at our camera!).

Went for dinner tonight and over indulged as usual. Mastering the chopsticks nicely, although rice is definitely easier than noodles in soup. We had soup based noodles the night before last and Russell was in full view of the kitchen. They eventually brought us out a fork each but we persevered and didn't use them once (we went home exhausted and with severe cramp in our hands)!

Late now so off to bed. Hope you are all enjoying your weekend and the good weather from last weekend has continued!

Love Anne & Russell :-) xx

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