8/11/15
Seriously, we need another week just to scrape the surface
of all there is to see in Beijing. There’s so much history and architecture to
see here that two hours, walking at a senior group pace is simply NOT enough
time! And trying to cram in not one but TWO iconic sights in that amount of
time is ridiculous. But here we go – making the absolute MOST of our last day!!
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| This illustration (courtesy of kinabaloo.com) might help out the Summer Palace grounds into perspective |
Our first stop was the Summer Palace, an expansive and
beyond-lavish oasis built in 1764, in the middle of the city amid a lush one
square mile park surrounding the Kinming Lake.
The emperor had the Summer Palace complex (it’s actually many buildings,
pavilions, bridges and boat docks, not just a single palace) built to escape
the heat of the city during – you guessed it! – Beijing’s sweltering summers.
There were multiple ornate gates and halls, designated for various activities
of meditation, political or philosophical discussion, female seclusion, and
aside from just the private quarters for the emperor. The level of opulence was
jaw-dropping. Not only did the emperor require a separate room for every single
one of his daily thoughts or activities, his daily meals also had to meet every
anticipated whim or hankering he might have. The best chefs in the country were
required to prepare every single one if his favorite dishes for each meal,
which he would take a few bites of and then move on to the next dish [NN: or he
might never even ask for that specific dish on a given meal, thus never even
touched]. As you can imagine, most of the food was simply uneaten and wasted;
it’s estimated a single meal at the Summer Palace could have fed three
different families for a full three years!! (Not that things are much better
today, with nearly 1/3 of current global food production going to landfills and
nearly 800 million people going hungry worldwide…but that’s a different
discussion).
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| What not to do in the park |
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| Pretty lotus flower |
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| Pavilion of Flourishing Culture |
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| Water writing |
Water writer
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| Shuimuziqin Gate |
According to our guide, the palace complex also boasts the
world’s longest covered wooden corridor. Built in 1750 and made of 273 sections
linking all of the buildings and pathways along the length of the lake, the Long
Corridor is an impressive 728 meters long. Walking the length of the corridor
during the height of Chinese summer vacation season felt like maneuvering
through rush hour on foot. It did, however, allow me to play one of my favorite
travel games: Where’s Nick? Which is played very much like Where’s Waldo but
instead of looking for the distinct stipes, you just look for the tallest head
in the crowd. Travel across China, this game never got old ;P [NN: Yup, another
place where strangers asked to have their photo taken with me.]
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| Long Corridor east entrance |
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| Long Corridor ceiling detail |
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| Long Corridor ceiling detail |
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| Long Corridor painting detail |
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| Long Corridor painting detail |
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| Long Corridor painting detail |
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| Long Corridor painting detail |
The most impressive part of the Summer Palace was how every
inch of wall space on every building was lavishly painted with animals, women,
warriors, and symbols of all kinds (the Long Corridor supposedly has upwards of
14,000 paintings alone). Another reason the path was so congested: you had to
walk slowly in order to see it all and take everything in. Much of the palace
has been restored (after being burned down in 1860 during the “Great
Humiliation” or what Westerners refer to as the Opium War) so the paint was
quite vibrant and the detail impressive. However, even the buildings that had
yet to be stored still held a lot of antique charm and beauty with their
scorched, soot covered frescos and splitting wood frames. The palace also
boasts the world’s largest marble boat – yup, a massive block of floating
marble. As you can imagine, it’s so heavy it was never able to sail across the
lake – you would think the emperor or engineers would have realized this ahead
of time [NN: I’m sure the engineer knew, but when an emperor says jump you
jump, or else he’ll cut your ankles off.] – so it just sits docked for you to
look at; visitors are not allowed to step foot on it. We were able to take a
small dragon boat across the lake before we left, which earned us lots of
fingers pointing and giggles from the on-looking Chinese kids. J
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| Sea of Wisdom Temple |
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| Small Temple |
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| Tower of Buddhist Incense |
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| Cloud Dispelling Gate |
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| Cloud Dispelling Gate Detail |
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