It was chilly today, in the low 30s, and the added wind up in the mountains compounded the cold. As soon as we stepped out of our car the vendors were trying to sell us "Great Wall" hats and gloves. Until we pulled ours out of our pockets and put them on, they kept pushing. Even with the intense cold, after hiking for a few minutes we
I didn't realize how mountainous this area was until we arrived. Within the city of Beijing it seems mostly flat or with small hills (though the way the highways zigzag through the sky may be misleading). I was thrilled when I looked out the window and saw the beautiful hills in
We took so many wonderful photos it was difficult to select the few to display here. Since our Chinese guide also took many photos he instructed us that instead of saying "cheese" like we do in the US to take a photo, in China they say "qiézi", or eggplant!
After several hours of taking in the scenery, we had a nice Thai lunch to warm up, during which I chose an interesting looking beverage (I will save all the wonderful details of my meals for another "afterward" blog in the future!), and headed to our next stop, the Summer Palace.
While we toured the Forbidden City yesterday, the Summer Palace often came up, as this was the "get-away" destination outside of the city for the Imperials. I was very pleased to be able to visit the Summer Palace today, which is over 1.1 square miles in size, 3/4 of which is dominated by a man-made lake. The
A walkway lined with trees winds along Kunmig Lake. Another covered walkway sits beside this paved walkway and runs over 3000 feet and contains over 14,000 unique paintings on it. These paintings have mostly been restored and are beautiful depictions of Chinese scenery, nature and daily life. Many vendors of food and trinkets peddle their wares inside the Palace. As soon as they see I am "měiguórén" or American, they come after me! In fact, as we were decending the Great Wall, a woman selling memorabelia, first offered her items to Liang and Tina for 2 yuan, and then offered them to be for 5 yuan!
After an interesting drive through evening rush-hour traffic back to Beijing, we had a dinner that I have been looking forward to for several days called "HotPot" where raw food is brought to the table and you cook it in a personal pan of boiling water. Liang has been taking photos of me with my meals and I will be sure to have more details in a future blog!
Now, my legs
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