1:00pm - filled myself with loads of Arabic food just before heading to the Summer Palace, better known as Yíhé Yuán - "Garden of Health and Harmony." Took a taxi and there was one incident when it stopped at red. Traffic was rather slow so I was pretty much looking around. To my right was a public bus, so naturally you'd look up to see the people in it, right? So that was what I did and I noticed this particular guy (below) smiling and putting his hand up - like giving a "Hi" sign. I smiled back and in one way or another, a friendly shot came along. Only this time round, he showed a "peace" sign. Oh well, you get the story. :-)

The Entrance
The Summer Palace was originally named Qingyi Yuan; "The Garden of Clear Ripples", when it was first constructed in 1750. In 1860, the Anglo-French Allied Forces destroyed the place only for it to be rebuilt 6 years later by the Government of the Qing Dynasty. 2 years later, the landscape was renamed Yihe Yuan, serving as a summer resort for Empress Dowager Cixi (慈禧太后), a powerful figure who ruled over China for 47 years.


寿星石

(Shouxing Shi- Stone of the God of Longevity)

This sleek stone is known to be shaped like the God of Longevity, hence its name.

扮戏楼

(Banxi Lou - The Make-up Building)

Originally built in 1891, this 2-storey hall is where actors would apply their make-up. The picture below just shows how huge the building is as compared to my size! Now that's a whole lot of space for powder! Sounds pretty good to me!







大戏楼

(Daxi Lou-The Grand Stage)

This performance building is known to be the largest stage during the Qing Dynasty. It consists of the "fortune", "salary" and "longevity" stage, where different operas and plays could be performed at the same time. Distinguished Beijing opera actors of the Qing Dynasty, like Ying Xiaolou and Tan Xinpei, performed here for Empress Dowager.


Me playing hide-and-seek..hahah...sorry, just being playful....

I call this - the mini-version of the Great Wall :-)


The Summer Palace is mainly dominated by Longevity Hill (60m high) and the Kunming Lake. It covers an expanse of 2.9 square kilometers, three quarters of which is water. The central Kunming Lake covering 2.2 square kilometers was entirely man-made and the excavated soil was used to build Longevity Hill.

It was at 2:30pm that the route through the Summer Palace began and just this place alone 3 hours was spent - enchanted by the creative art of Chinese landscape garden design. It's just amazing to see how this imperial Chinese garden was able to incorparate the works of mankind and nature in a harmonious whole.


Exit point of the Summer Palace

After the Summer Palace, it was a planned trip to Yuánmíng Yuán, the Old Summer Palace, located east of the Summer Palace and north of Peking University.

Yuánmíng Yuán was constructed in 1709 and was a wonderland of lakes and waterways, bridges, hills and pavilions. One-third of the ground of Yuánmíng Yuán was taken up by over 200 small hills with steep sides, secluded valleys, rock walls and stone caves.

Somewhat similar to the Summer Palace, the Old Summer Palace has a sad history as well of being destructed in 1860 by the Anglo-French Allied Forces. However, despite all the crumbling walls and ruins, you can pretty much imagine how the former grandeur of the Old Summer Palace was like. I must say, it is still a lovely place where you can take out a book to read or just relax and hear the birds sing.

Labels: 1st trip to China, 圆明园, 颐和园