If you want the full-meal deal on the Summer Palace you can read all about it here. In the short version, it was where the emporer and his court spent the hot humid summers when Beijing became unbearable. It's really not that far from the Forbidden City in the center of Beijing, but it is a noticeable difference in feeling and temperature. It is a huge complex dominated by a beautiful (manmade) lake, temples, serene gardens, and gorgeous buildings. The Empress Xixi is known for doing some work on the place and building the marble boat with funds that were supposed to be used to beef up the Imperial Navy. The Navy which took a beating at the hands of the Japanese a few years later, so maybe not the best use of funds in hindsight.
This last week was a holiday and, silly us, we decided to visit on the actual National Day. Along with 95% of the Chinese population. Imagine standing in line at Disneyland. All day. For everything. With no sense of lining up orderly-like or waiting patiently. If you want to see more of what "crowded" looks like here, go to Swamped: Tourists Swarm the Capital and click on (or search for) that ti
tle if it doesn't come up. Click on the pic above for a sense of just how tight everything was! This narrow path (about 3 people wide) is the onlyway to get to Longevity Hill and then up it. After that, things branch out and there are more paths so less congestion, but this first part was easily several hours. But fun, actually. Once you give up your notions of how things ought to be and what should be done differently, you can enjoy watching another culture celebrate and have fun. And we did--we ate steamed pork buns and kebabs of cherry-like fruits dipped in a hard sugar glaze, drank beer (it's like water here, seriously--it's everywhere) and had a great time.
tle if it doesn't come up. Click on the pic above for a sense of just how tight everything was! This narrow path (about 3 people wide) is the onlyway to get to Longevity Hill and then up it. After that, things branch out and there are more paths so less congestion, but this first part was easily several hours. But fun, actually. Once you give up your notions of how things ought to be and what should be done differently, you can enjoy watching another culture celebrate and have fun. And we did--we ate steamed pork buns and kebabs of cherry-like fruits dipped in a hard sugar glaze, drank beer (it's like water here, seriously--it's everywhere) and had a great time.
The other noticeable thing was, of course, the pollution. Apparently these shots capture the essence of the air here. To give you an idea of perspective, we were standing about 600 meters from the bridge in this picture. I found that I could photoshop most of the haze out of a lot of the shots, but I left some "as is" to illustrate the reality of the "weather" here now that the Olympics are over and factories and freight are back in full swing. No wonder there's so much spitting and hawking!
During the Olympics there were severe restrictions on factories operating and tight vehicle restrictions that meant only about 1/3 of the usual number of cars were on the road at any time. In the past couple weeks we've now seen the roads and air as it usually is. Beijing has just announced that new vehicle restrictions will start again next week--not as severe as it was during the Olympics, but basically one day a week you'll have to be off the roads, although there are no weekend restrictions. We live outside the restricted areas, so we would be able to drive any day out here, as long we stay outside the zone on our forbidden day. Many Beijingers were vocal about trying to keep things looking cleaner and less congested, but of course now that the restrictions have been announced, people are complaining, just as they would in the States if anything like that was put in place. Once you have a car and are used to it, it's hard to give it up, even for one day!
During the Olympics there were severe restrictions on factories operating and tight vehicle restrictions that meant only about 1/3 of the usual number of cars were on the road at any time. In the past couple weeks we've now seen the roads and air as it usually is. Beijing has just announced that new vehicle restrictions will start again next week--not as severe as it was during the Olympics, but basically one day a week you'll have to be off the roads, although there are no weekend restrictions. We live outside the restricted areas, so we would be able to drive any day out here, as long we stay outside the zone on our forbidden day. Many Beijingers were vocal about trying to keep things looking cleaner and less congested, but of course now that the restrictions have been announced, people are complaining, just as they would in the States if anything like that was put in place. Once you have a car and are used to it, it's hard to give it up, even for one day!
It's hard to get pictures of whole buildings. They're big for one thing, and the way things are laid out and the number of people around, I seem to struggle with that. But the architecture and detailing are so interesting and intricate that I'm finding my attention is constantly drawn to certain aspects. Like the rooflines. The cylinder-shaped tiles are all detailed with designs at the ends and dragons, people, and other animals adorn the peaks at each corner. I've tried to capture them so many times, but finally I was able to climb steep stairs that went right next to some of the edges. The metal tubing on the second picture has been added to protect the figures. This kind of detailing is found on many different (and less important) buildings all around town. It's something I've noticed a lot about Beijing--the attention to detail. There are many aspects of life that wouldn't app
ear that way upon first glance, but really it is a very orderly place and there is a high value placed on aesthetics and things being visually pleasing.
ear that way upon first glance, but really it is a very orderly place and there is a high value placed on aesthetics and things being visually pleasing.
One of the modern things about Beijing is that they love neon signs and lights. Some buildings at night start to resemble the Vegas strip! We were laughing that some of the intricate and bright painting done at the Palace was essentially 19th century neon. I mean, you work with what you've got, right?
Really, though, the detail is spectacular. Everything has to be painted by hand. These aren't decals, or templates. Every post and surface is decorated with bright blues and reds and wonderfully detailed scenes. There's a balance between the power of replicating a scene or object multiple times and the beauty of the many different portraits and scenes that decorate the halls and passageways.
One of the favorite parts of the day was an area called Suzhou Street. It's definitely an added tourist attrac
tion and modeled after the city of Suzhou, near Shanghai, that has a large number of canals throughout the town. We ate large bowls of noodles and broth, sipped tea, and meandered along the canals (on very narrow sidewalks with no ropes or barriers between us and the water) and browse in the shops. Everything was what you'd expect to find--calligraphy, kites, silk and "silk", jade and "jade", pe
arls...but the atmosphere made everything seem much more magical.
One of the favorite parts of the day was an area called Suzhou Street. It's definitely an added tourist attrac
tion and modeled after the city of Suzhou, near Shanghai, that has a large number of canals throughout the town. We ate large bowls of noodles and broth, sipped tea, and meandered along the canals (on very narrow sidewalks with no ropes or barriers between us and the water) and browse in the shops. Everything was what you'd expect to find--calligraphy, kites, silk and "silk", jade and "jade", pe
arls...but the atmosphere made everything seem much more magical. Cameron pointed out (perhaps cynically, but hey, he's homesick) that when we saw things like shops and houses and poeple in Tanzania we were seeing the "real thing" in that people were going about their daily business and here we were in something more like a theme park, ala Colonial Williamsburg. I did 
have to remind him about the "cultural bomas" that are outside all the safari parks and the number of times we saw activities recreated and packaged for visitors...but I do see his point, although I think it's part of the adjustment. It's true we lived much closer to traditional Tanzanian life in Tanzania than we are to traditional Chinese life here, but if you look around, you will see elements of these tourist attractions all over town, including those areas not on the typical tourist or expatriate track. Because we haven't seen that much of China yet, we thought the canals and bridges and floating lotuses and boats and shops completely charming.
have to remind him about the "cultural bomas" that are outside all the safari parks and the number of times we saw activities recreated and packaged for visitors...but I do see his point, although I think it's part of the adjustment. It's true we lived much closer to traditional Tanzanian life in Tanzania than we are to traditional Chinese life here, but if you look around, you will see elements of these tourist attractions all over town, including those areas not on the typical tourist or expatriate track. Because we haven't seen that much of China yet, we thought the canals and bridges and floating lotuses and boats and shops completely charming.
The kids all wondered if the famous Marble Boat (built with the aforementioned naval funds) actually floated. Well, obviously, it doesn't. But it was very impressive--it looks just like a real boat and it appears to be moored to a dock. Not that I endorse fiscal misappropriation or anything, but it does make a very terrific place to have cocktail parties or al fresco lunches and dinners.
Finally, anything I ever said about being an object of curiosity or having pictures taken was nothing compared to here. This is China after all--ASIA--where I might have been the only person with just one camera. Holy cats, but people took pictures of us! Mostly Ava, to the point where she got very cranky and I started telling people it was going to cost 5 yuan (about 80 cents) for a picture. At one point we were sitting on a rock eating pretzels and no fewer than 20 people at any one time were taking our picture. Wow. If it is even the teensiest bit of what celebrities face whenever they step out of their houses, then, well, I'm glad I'm not a celebrity. This group of students (all toting cameras and anxious to try out their English) bypassed the usual suspect (Ava) and made a beeline for Mark to have their picture taken with him. Go figure, but it was a very funny end to our day.
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