Cooling Down At the Summer Palace

The previous day was pretty difficult on the kids with all of the heat and walking.  We decided to take it easier today especially because the temperature was supposed to reach 104 degrees Fahrenheit. 

Just like the Chinese emperors of old, we decided to spend this hot, sweltering day at the Summer Palace.  In the 1750's, the area was initially developed as a garden for members of the royal family.  After the old Summer Palace was burned down by British and French troops in 1860, it would take over 20 years for the Qing Dynasty to raise the funds to build a new one.  In 1888, the Empress Dowager Cixi embezzled funds that were earmarked for upgrading the Chinese Navy to construct the current palace.  Seven years later, that same obsolete Chinese Navy was soundly defeated in the Sino-Japanese War, ceding Taiwan in the process.  The Summer Palace was heavily damaged during the Boxer Rebellion in 1900 and extensive repairs had to be performed.  In 1924, the place was opened to the public so that ordinary people could finally see it.

The Summer Palace, tucked away in the northwest corner of Beijing, would not be an easy place for us to reach.  We had contemplated traveling by taxi, but it would be expensive and time consuming because of the congested Beijing traffic.  We decided that the subway would be the best option. 

By leaving after 8 AM, we hoped that we would miss the big early morning rush.  That didn't turn out too well.  The trains were packed with morning commuters all in a rush to get to work.  Despite the fact that the trains arrived every few minutes, people still tried to pack into the first one they saw.

The Tokyo metro gets a bad rap for being overcrowded, but the Beijing subway was in the same league.

After one transfer and about 19 stops that took about an hour, we exited the subway.  Unfortunately, The Wife read the subway map incorrectly and we had gotten off at the wrong station.  We were still too far away to walk to our destination, so we had to take a taxi for another five minutes to get to the Summer Palace.

Instead of being dropped off at the main entrance (the East Gate), 

we entered through the New Palace gate in the southeast.

The authorities are pretty explicit on what
you cannot do in the Summer Palace.
Apparently, they aren't NRA members.

Kunming Lake occupies most of the area of the Summer Palace.  This large lake cooled
the surrounding air several degrees to make the hot Beijing days more comfortable.

This bronze ox, placed here in 1755, is supposed to have powers to help "control floods."

A group of older women practice their favorite 'N Sync moves on the palace grounds.

Before the eastern wall of the palace was constructed, much of the surrounding area
could be seen from this structure.  Hence, it was named The Spacious Pavllion.

Of the thirty bridges in the Summer Palace, the Seventeen Arch Bridge is the longest.

A kylin-like beast guards the entrance to the bridge.

544 lion statues sit atop of
the columns on this bridge.

We walked across the Seventeen Arch Bridge to the small Nanhu Island in the middle of Kunming Lake.  Unfortunately, the temples there were under renovation so there was really only a souvenir shop to visit.

We were ferried across the lake to the northern shore on a motorized
dragon-shaped boat that was 15 RMB per person for a one-way trip.

Similar boats ferried tourists to far-reaching areas of the palace.

We disembarked on the northern shore of Lake Kunming.  Docked nearby was the marble boat that was originally built in 1755.  After it burned in a fire in 1860, only the hull remained.  It was eventually rebuilt in the 1890's with the two wooden decks painted to look like marble.

The marble boat was the only ship built using the funds embezzled from the Chinese Navy.

The main area of the Summer Palace sits as the base of Longetivity Hill.  Running from east to west, this part contains most of the grand and important buildings, temples and gardens that stretch upwards on the 200 foot hill.  The largest and most prominent structure that dominates Longevity Hill is the Temple of Buddhist Virtue and its Tower of Buddhist Incense.  However, there was a trifecta of reasons that made it a deal breaker for us to visit.  The attraction costs extra money, there were many stairs to climb up it, and it was too hot a day.  

This would be The Wife’s third visit to the Summer Palace and
her third time never to climb up to the Tower of Buddhist Incense

We didn't want to a have a repeat of the previous day, so we just took a leisurely stroll down the shaded Long Corridor.  The original structure was built in 1750 by the Emperor Qianlong so that his mother could walk outdoors regardless of the weather.  

The Long Corridor stretches for 728 meters (almost 8 football fields).

The beams of each segment was
decorated with a unique painting.

In total there are over 14,000 paintings depicting flora, fauna, and events in Chinese history.

There are also four octagonal pavilions, each representing one of the seasons.  Within them
are paintings depicting classical literature such as this "Tale of the Peach-Blossom Land."

While not as large as the Seventeen-Arch Bridge, this small one overlooks a quaint lily pond.

The Wife and The Boy could't figure out
why this door is all the way up there.

An old phone used by the last emperors
of the Qing Dynasty is on display.

Maybe they should build more railings to protect these railings.

 

During ceremonies, the dragon and phoenix statues...

...were used as incense burners.

The male kylins are shown playing with balls (not their own). The females play with baby kylins.

An ornate chandelier decorates the Hall of
Benevolence and Longevity.

Carved dragons adorn this wall.

A person could spend more than a day exploring the 720 acres of the Summer Palace.  However, even with the cooling breeze from the lake, it was just so hot.  None of us were very enthusiastic about visiting any further pavilions, so we exited the Summer Palace through the East Gate.  We walked about 800 meters with little shade to get to the Beigongmen subway station. 

Along the way, we were accosted by a guy in a huge panda suit.  According to the sign, he was raising money for deaf kids.

Although it cost 10 RMB for a photo, 

the guy earned it as he must have 

been getting heat stroke in that suit.

The Boy couldn't figure out why the bird wouldn't move or chirp.

This time, we took the right route back to the Wangfujing station.  We traveled 15 stops on Line 4 and transferred to Line 1 for three more stops.  The whole process took an hour.

One of the subway exits brought us out to a large shopping mall.

If these purveyors had seen the video
"Two Girls, One Cup," then they would
have never named their store "Scat."

Many of the restaurants in the mall had
attention-grabbing cartoon figures.

This large "whopper" was outside the Burger King.

For lunch, we ate at Macao Place, a restaurant that specializes in Portuguese-Chinese concoctions.

Portuguese shrimp with wonton noodle soup

Salty and sweet steamed buns

 

Fried radish cakes

Milk tea

Macau stewed milk

 

Chilled mango sago creme with pomelo

Portuguese egg tarts

 

Portuguese sago and lychee in stewed milk

Mango cotton ice (similar to ice cream)

After lunch, we left the mall and did some window shopping down Wangfujing street.  We did purchase some Chinese content books written in English at the foreign language bookstore.

The pedestrian-only section of Wangfujing street stretches 810 meters.

Donating HIV-infected blood has never been so cute!

The Wife was not 100% satisfied with the kids' action figures from the previous day.  Some cracks were already developing in the face.  There was a vendor at Wangfujiang who offered the same services.  The bodies were more interesting albeit at much higher prices.  We got new figures for both The Girl and The Boy.

The biggest downside of this vendor is that we had to sit outdoors without any air-conditioning.  

We convinced The Girl to get a body with a traditional Chinese dress.

Zai jian, baby!

We had dinner reservations with The Wife's nephew at Najia Xiao Guan, a popular restaurant that specializes in Manchu-style food.  If we didn't arrive by 6 PM, we would lose our reservations and have to wait in a long line.  We spoke with three taxis outside our hotel, but all three refused to take us since it was still rush hour and the trip would not be lucrative enough for them.  With time running out, we gave up and headed towards the subway station.  We had to travel for three stops which probably ended up being faster than a taxi anyways.  We made it to the restaurant with a minute to spare.

The entrance for Najia Xaio Guan was hard
to find.  It's located next to a middle school.

The restaurant is arranged in an old, two-story courtyard.

Our waitress recommended several dishes which she said are specialties of the restaurant.

Mashed potatoes with sweet bean paste

Chinese yam with osmanthus sauce

 

Crispy prawns with lychee

Stir-fried cabbage with dry shrimp

 

We were instructed to eat half of the stewed
shark's fin, fish maw, and fish skin soup first.

Then we were to mix in the following condiments: rice,
green hot peppers, scallions, and pickled vegetables.

 

With or without the condiments, the soup was really good.

Fried housemade tofu with sweet garlic sauce

 

Braised venison with abalone mushrooms

Roasted lamb ribs with ground nuts

 

Braised catfish with red peppers

Peanut shortbread cookies

 

The kids pose with their second cousin.

There were about 20 people waiting for a table when we left.

I was left scratching my head why the potatoes are considered popular.  If I had my druthers, I would take the KFC mashed potatoes and gravy any day of the week over this odd concoction.  The yams were only okay too; nothing to write home about.  The soup was very good but also very expensive.  Although I would have never expected this pairing to work, the shrimp with lychee was an excellent dish.  The tofu was so good that The Wife and I decided that we wanted to start making our own from scratch.  The Wife especially liked the lamb ribs because they were a lean cut.  Altogether, dinner cost about 900 RMB.  It was a bit expensive by local standards, but it was worth trying to get a different take on Chinese food.