Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
BEIJING CITY, Beijing Province:
Got up quite early this morning because we went to Beijing for another day trip!
The buses this morning were crazy-busy, and after letting a few go past because there were no seats, we decided just to get on the next one regardless... which unfortunately meant we had to stand up for the hour journey! Not the end of the world - it was definately a full body workout!
We met up with Rachael at Bagou subway station, and got a taxi to the Summer Palace, which is huuuuuuuuuge, and the grounds are beautiful. There's a massive lake in the middle, so we decided to get a Dragon Boat across the lake to have a look at some of the buildings.
I stupidly forgot to take my camera with me, but Rachael and Sarah took plenty of photos which they've kindly shared!
We walked around the Palace and grounds for about 4 hours, visiting the Garden of Clear Ripples (I didn't see any...) and Longevity Hill - where we saw the Cloud-Dispelling Hall and the Tower of Buddhist Incense, as well as a number of other just as interestingly-named buildings. We also went to the South Lake Island, and visited the Temple of Extensive Moisture, as well as having a look at the Marble Boat - a boat made of wood, but that had been painted to look like marble!
I've been reading up on my Chinese history, so it was quite cool to be able to associate some names with a few of the places we saw.
Came back to Huairou fairly early to avoid the late-afternoon bus rush, and spent the evening lesson planning for the next week.
- comments