Day 2 - Summer Palace in the sun


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Asia » China » Beijing » Summer Palace
April 4th 2011
Published: April 4th 2011
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Not quite such an early start this morning, but we were still out and about on our way to the Summer Palace by 8.30am! It pays to go out early in Beijing on a national holiday weekend. Even with what we thought were large crowds, our tour guide dispelled these thoughts and told us it was "quiet because you are early!" And what a lovely tour guide she was. I don't think I have ever hired one of those people who wander around with you as I feel so conspicuous, but it was well worth it. Yesterday, we found ourselves wandering around the Temple of Heaven, wondering what all these buildings and statues were, so we decided we would like to know why on earth we were there! It was an amazing place, with so many stories which got us all discussing the merits of emperors and pondering what it all means! Well, after those 5 minutes, we were then able to appreciate the beauty of the buildings, temples, and blossoms. Such a gorgeous place, even jam-packed full of tourists!

This afternoon, we decided to head back to the hotel after a yummy lunch, again at the Village, at Let's Burger. We needed some downtime as everyone was flagging. My quads and calves and generally whole legs are in more and more pain after the rock climbing yesterday and mum has been doing so well with all the walking. We went for a swim and Nanny relaxed on a lounger by the pool as we had lots of fun in the water with our water babies.

This evening, we had a quick drive-by at Tiananmen Square to see where we are going tomorrow and couldn't believe the size of it and the amount of people there. We didn't stop, but carried on with our driver to go and meet a friend of mine from school who is also in Beijing with his parents. Our driver had recommended a Beijing Duck restaurant called DaDong. It was a wonderful meal and we were shown what to do with the duck, with the main new find being dipping the skin in sugar! Yes, we were all rather surprised also, but it was delicious! It was a little more expensive that we would normally have paid, but was a great special treat for us all and great to catch up with people from Shanghai.

So, I will now put on some more pics of the glorious sunshine in Beijing...enjoy!


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