Day 3
We were up wide awake at 5am.
We start off each day with a big breakfast at our hotel. The breakfast buffet is quite "international." There is the typical American stuff- omelet station, boiled eggs, bacon, ham, toast,and various breads, cereal, fruit, and yoghurt. But there is also traditional European and Japanese items- miso soup, spicy noodles, stuff that I don't know what the heck it is, cold cuts, cheese, potato salad, spaghetti, fried rice, chicken wings, salad, etc. Quite interesting. The hot tea here is good, but the coffee isn't as smooth & is more bitter than back home.
We began our day with a visit to one of the most beautful spots in Beijing, the Summer Palace. It was built along the shores of Kunming Lake and has been destroyed by foreign powers and rebuilt a couple of times.
Buildings here include:
the Hall of Benevolence and Longevity - where the empress received members of the court;
the Long Corridor - a covered wooden promenade almost a half mile long stretching along the lake; and
Seventeen Arch Bridge - a 490 foot marble bridge connecting South Lake Island with the east shore of Kunming Lake.
We took a boat ride across the lake.
These are our new friends - they asked us to take their picture and to be in another picture with them - the people here are very polite and friendly. btw - I was the only person in Beijing wearing shorts that day - even though it was about 70. I got more than my usual amount of strange looks...
This is at the entry to the Summer Palace - this is some mythical beast meant to ward off people wearing shorts.
Got it?
Nice view of Kunming lake with the palace in the distance.
On the way to the palace and the boat ride.
The entire walk is a covered walkway - it's about a half-mile long and ornately decorated. You can see Chris (she's the blonde) and Tom (our guide) just entering it. They didn't miss me until the next souvenier shop...
A better view of the palace, the boat dock, and me on the boat dock - just kidding.
We're on the island now, after the boat ride, and on our way to the 17 arches bridge.
The reason this bridge has 17 arches is so that there are 9 arches from each side to the peak. 9 is the number of royalty in China.
On the way to and from the Summer Palace we passed the side of one of the new stadiums being built for the 2008 Olympics. They call this the 'bird's nest' for obvious reasons - it's not finished and Tom said that they will cover it before it is done - but I'd leave it just the way it is - it's amazing you can build anything that complicated. The form you see is created by huge ribbons of steel beams - I could not detect a pattern to it - I can't imagine how they designed and built it. And just wait till you see the bird...
After visiting the Summer Palace, we went a pearl factory where we taught how pearls were made, how to distinguish between real and fake, and where we were encouraged to spend, spend, spend. We did buy a necklace for Callan’s 16th birthday. We have learned that every tour guide in China, whether they have one client or a huge group, has to take their clients to these various government owned factories.
Afterwards, Tom took us to one of his favorite restaurants near his home for a late lunch. He ordered a ton of vegetable dishes for us along with a spicy fish dish. A few minutes later the waitress brought out a fish flopping around in a bag for our inspection. Tom nodded his approval and a few minutes later the fish was brought out cooked and crispy with the head still on. I don’t want to think about how they killed that fish.
After lunch we went to a tea house where we sampled 5 types of Chinese tea, learned the medicinal benefits of each and how it is grown & produced. We also learned the “Chinese” way of drinking and enjoying tea. It was a very nice experience.
Afterwards, Tom took us to his home. He is an only child because of the one-child policy and lives with his parents. They live in a typical city apartment, several flights up (with no elevator). The apartment is very small and shows signs of age. The kitchen is the size of our walk-in closet. The refrigerator was in the living room which was just big enough to hold that along with a couch and a tv. Then there were two small bedrooms. We met his mother, who brought us some fruit and some “health” tea. We hung out in Tom’s room for about an hour as he showed us some of his photography and camera equipment. It was nice of him to show us his home.
That evening he dropped us off at one of the theaters where we watched a “Kung Fu” show. It was a La Nouba type show with music, choreography, dancing, martial arts incorporated into a story about a young monk who becomes a kung fu master. After the show, we caught a cab back to our hotel and went to bed.
We start off each day with a big breakfast at our hotel. The breakfast buffet is quite "international." There is the typical American stuff- omelet station, boiled eggs, bacon, ham, toast,and various breads, cereal, fruit, and yoghurt. But there is also traditional European and Japanese items- miso soup, spicy noodles, stuff that I don't know what the heck it is, cold cuts, cheese, potato salad, spaghetti, fried rice, chicken wings, salad, etc. Quite interesting. The hot tea here is good, but the coffee isn't as smooth & is more bitter than back home.
We began our day with a visit to one of the most beautful spots in Beijing, the Summer Palace. It was built along the shores of Kunming Lake and has been destroyed by foreign powers and rebuilt a couple of times.
Buildings here include:
the Hall of Benevolence and Longevity - where the empress received members of the court;
the Long Corridor - a covered wooden promenade almost a half mile long stretching along the lake; and
Seventeen Arch Bridge - a 490 foot marble bridge connecting South Lake Island with the east shore of Kunming Lake.
We took a boat ride across the lake.
These are our new friends - they asked us to take their picture and to be in another picture with them - the people here are very polite and friendly. btw - I was the only person in Beijing wearing shorts that day - even though it was about 70. I got more than my usual amount of strange looks...
This is at the entry to the Summer Palace - this is some mythical beast meant to ward off people wearing shorts.
Got it?
Nice view of Kunming lake with the palace in the distance.
On the way to the palace and the boat ride.
The entire walk is a covered walkway - it's about a half-mile long and ornately decorated. You can see Chris (she's the blonde) and Tom (our guide) just entering it. They didn't miss me until the next souvenier shop...
A better view of the palace, the boat dock, and me on the boat dock - just kidding.
We're on the island now, after the boat ride, and on our way to the 17 arches bridge.
The reason this bridge has 17 arches is so that there are 9 arches from each side to the peak. 9 is the number of royalty in China.
On the way to and from the Summer Palace we passed the side of one of the new stadiums being built for the 2008 Olympics. They call this the 'bird's nest' for obvious reasons - it's not finished and Tom said that they will cover it before it is done - but I'd leave it just the way it is - it's amazing you can build anything that complicated. The form you see is created by huge ribbons of steel beams - I could not detect a pattern to it - I can't imagine how they designed and built it. And just wait till you see the bird...
After visiting the Summer Palace, we went a pearl factory where we taught how pearls were made, how to distinguish between real and fake, and where we were encouraged to spend, spend, spend. We did buy a necklace for Callan’s 16th birthday. We have learned that every tour guide in China, whether they have one client or a huge group, has to take their clients to these various government owned factories.
Afterwards, Tom took us to one of his favorite restaurants near his home for a late lunch. He ordered a ton of vegetable dishes for us along with a spicy fish dish. A few minutes later the waitress brought out a fish flopping around in a bag for our inspection. Tom nodded his approval and a few minutes later the fish was brought out cooked and crispy with the head still on. I don’t want to think about how they killed that fish.
After lunch we went to a tea house where we sampled 5 types of Chinese tea, learned the medicinal benefits of each and how it is grown & produced. We also learned the “Chinese” way of drinking and enjoying tea. It was a very nice experience.
Afterwards, Tom took us to his home. He is an only child because of the one-child policy and lives with his parents. They live in a typical city apartment, several flights up (with no elevator). The apartment is very small and shows signs of age. The kitchen is the size of our walk-in closet. The refrigerator was in the living room which was just big enough to hold that along with a couch and a tv. Then there were two small bedrooms. We met his mother, who brought us some fruit and some “health” tea. We hung out in Tom’s room for about an hour as he showed us some of his photography and camera equipment. It was nice of him to show us his home.
That evening he dropped us off at one of the theaters where we watched a “Kung Fu” show. It was a La Nouba type show with music, choreography, dancing, martial arts incorporated into a story about a young monk who becomes a kung fu master. After the show, we caught a cab back to our hotel and went to bed.
posted by Ken & Chris | 3:21 AM
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