You can see part 2 here. The rest of this post is adapted from a forum post I made at the time:
On Sunday, I went to the Summer Palace. In addition to the historic buildings (many are recreations after most were destroyed by foreign forces in 1860) the large garden and lake areas are popular for locals to picnic or just a place to relax. It’s in the north west of Beijing.
The Spacious Pavilion and Seventeen Arch Bridge.
A view across the lake.
A look up ‘Longevity Hill’.
There are a series of bridges on a strip of land between two lakes, a feature copied from another famous Chinese garden.
The biggest willow tree I’ve ever seen.
Pagoda way off in the distance (and a bit of “fog”).
Tower of Buddhist Incense
Views from the walkway below the Tower of Buddhist Incense.
A look down the other side of the hill.
And a look up.
Suzhou Street, kind of like a mini-Venice.
Heading towards the gate.
That’s it!
Had the best cabdriver on the way back to the hotel. It’s not every day you get to experience lane splitting in a Hyundai. Saw the new Olympic stadium off the 4th Ring Road on the way to the hotel, it’s pretty wild looking. Outside looks almost done.
Later during this same trip, I went to the Great Wall which I’ll cover in part 4.