DAY 7 BEJING

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We left Shanghai late Monday morning for Bejing. Our guide, Susie and driver Jong picked us up at the airport in Bejing and we immediately went right to the Summer Palace for a tour. This huge grounds called Yihe Yuan - please don't ask for a pronounciation- was an imperial retreat and served as a park for early dynasties. The present layout is courtesy of the Emperor Quianlong who reigned from 1736 to 1795 although the area was rebuilt twice by the Empress Dowager Cixi one of China's most powerful women, after various squirmishes destroyed it. My favorite stop in the Summer Palace was Longevity Hill. Here you will find many buildings but the most impressived structure is the Long Corridor where the beams of the 2,388 FOOT LONG walkway are decorated with over 14,000 scenic paintings. As one climbs higher and higher, passing hall after hall of pagoda style buildings you finally reach the Tower of the Fragrance of the Buddha. This is a beautiful example of an emperor's retreat and our friend the Empress Cixi or the Dragon Lady, as the Chinese fondly call her, paid for the upgrade with funds meant for the modernization of the Imperial Navy. The Empress was an interesting character seizing power after meek beginnings as a concubine for the Xianfeng emperor. She bore him a son, he later died - the young child was the next in line and was a puppet ruler with the cunning Cixi behind the strings... and many give her credit for paving the way to the fall of the Zing Dynasty in 1911. Okay, enough history... off to have Peking Duck with Susie!

We had the traditional Peking Duck at a local restaurant. Wow! What a meal with all the trimmings, and the waiter was happy to slice the succulent fowl in front of our table. The duck was excellent, well I guess it was excellent - Susie and I had only a bite or two. Brentley ate the whole duck!

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