April 26 Thursday

Summer Palace!

Our tour group hit the road once again at 9am. We went to Tsinghua University which is one of the premier universities in Beijing. It is celebrating its 90th anniversary. Unfortunately, we weren't able to explore the grounds. We then went to a facility that trains people in traditional Chinese medicine with its emphasis on pressure points and herbals. Our next stop was the Beijing Zoo. Unfortunately, the Beijing Zoo isn't in very good condition and I felt sad for the panda bears there. By the afternoon, we hit the main attraction for the day... the Summer Palace.

One of the emperors was enamored of the beauty of Suzhou. So he had a part of the Summer Palace grounds built to look like Suzhou.

Another really remarkable structure is the Long Corridor. It seems to go on forever. Each segment is exquisitely painted.

Here is the famed Marble Boat!

The Summer Place complex was marked off in the 18th Century. In 1860, the British and the French destroyed most of the palace. It was rebuilt only to be destroyed yet again by European armies. Empress Dowager Cixi had it rebuilt yet again and was completed around 1903.

TRAVEL TIP:

The saying goes, pack half the clothes and twice the money. And indeed it is good advice whatever your destination. In Europe, one can get by with ATM cards, credit cards and keeping traveler's checks (and US greenbacks) as an emergency source of funds. However, in China, most of the ATMs I saw didn't display the Plus, Star or Interlink network symbols! If you are going within the next year or so, bring extra funds in traveler's checks. I hope to go again a few more times in my lifetime and hopefully, a day will come with ATMs are more ubiquitous. Until then, as those commericals for traveler's checks say, "Don't leave home without them!"

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