Met my 2 travel companions at 9.30 am this morning to head to the Summer Palace which the Guide book says is one of the lovelies spots in Beijing and I have to say it got it spot on. Apparently the latter day imperial empress Dowager Cixi used (a former concubine) used to hang out here quite a bit - not bloo#y surprised - its is vast public park surrounded by hills with a glorious lake in the middle and loads of temples/imperial pavillions. Once again it was a glorious sunny day. The pavillions were just gorgeous - painted and decorated with glorious bright colours and I cant tell you how many pictures I took of dragons and fishes (both my batteries ran out!). The highlight for me had to be the 3 tier theatre (still in its orginal form) which was truely splendid. A show was put on for the tourists of traditional chinese dancers and performers. It was magical. I have to say i could have stayed there all day.
Apprently the Empress used to spend most of her time in the theatre and perform there. Apparently she was the Emporer's favourite concubine - age 15 when she first entered the palace. She soon bore him a son and was promoted as he doted on her it seems - not quite sure why as from the black and white photos of her she doesnt look all that by any stretch of the imagination!
I have to say I also liked the boat ride we did across the lake from one end to the other to see a Marble boat. It turns out this Cixi Chick wasnt very good at budgeting and (I guess you wouldnt being an empress) and sqandered funds intended for the chinese navy in constructing this marble boat - I have to say it was very pretty and afloat! She also one ordered 108 dish banquet - just for herself!
There were loads of street type traders trying to sell Rolexes, Gucci bags - all fake of course but I didnt mind them as they reminded me of my trips to India - not that you would get people trying to sell you rolexes in india I hasten to add - just very pushy but friendly vendors.
Afterwards we tried getting a bus to the metro however from every one we tried getting on the conductor would "shoo" us away. We couldnt figure out what we were doing so then went to grab a cab. The first cab driver wanted to charge us 60 Yuan and given it had only cost us 20 Yuan to get there, my indian haggling skills came in very useful indeed. We ended up playing 2 drivers against each other and got a cab for 30 Yuan in the end (about 3 quid - bargain between 3 of us!!)
We ended up at the Olympic stadium quite late and we were hoping it would be all wonderfully lit up. Lady luck wasnt on our side alas. The chinese have just had a 5 day public holiday and it turns out the chinese authorities decided they had some renovation plans they wanted to kick start when everyone went back to work which would take about a month or two. Sadly therefore we couldnt go into the staduium and even the outside grounds were fenced off. We'd been walking for ages and were tired and hungry and this is no word of a lie but the only restuarant that we could see nearby was a TFI's - we had no choice. It was either eat or die (well thats what if felt like) - so we ended up squandering a whole heap of funds in eating american food and having a few pina colada type cocktails. I know my former intrepid rough traveller friends would once again hold their heads in their hands in shame but if its any concillation I did go for the "Dragon Chicken" which you can only get in China ;-)
Tomorrow my travel companions are heading in a different direction and we will part. However now that I have been in Beijing a few days and am able to get around on the public transport (expect buses!) I feel much more relaxed and confident about spending a few more nights in Beijing. I had thought about going with them tomorrow but I wouldnt have seen all I wanted to see and well lets face it - I have a few months of this travelling marlarky to do so I am sure I will bump into someone else to tag along with.
Tomorrow I am hoping to go to the Temple of Heaven (another park renound for its imperial beauty) and a local market (the Pearl Market).
Finally, KLL (from work) - glad you are enjoying the blog. Am loving China so far and think I have mastered the old chop sticks - think I could eat my spag bol with them too
OFM - the forbidden city is everything you would probably dream about and more - its is just spectaculor
Off to bed now. Night all.
