October in China Pt 2

So, after our whirlwind first day in China and a really good nights sleep, we got up to prepare for the first of our two day tours in Beijing. I had chosen a mini tour from Travel China Guide because I did not want to feel like I was a part of a herd, moving from place to place. They had texted me the pickup information the night before so we knew when they would arrive. After our morning routine, we walked around the building to a noodle shop for breakfast. We opted for the fried bread and I think soy milk, whatever that was it was good, and I would have it a number of times while we were in China. 

We had a little time back at the hotel, and then it was time to go. The itinerary for day one was as follows;

Day One

Summer Palace

Beijing Zoo Panda Exhibit

Beijing Hutongs

Temple of Heaven

We had arrived in Beijing, timed to miss the festivities for the 70th anniversary of the government the previous weekend. Even so, there was still quite a few Chinese tourists in town. That coupled with the fact there are 26 million people in the Beijing area, means that you will rarely see places without crowds especially if the weather is nice.. So we arrived at the Summer Palace. and our guide took us on a brief tour of the grounds, and letting us roam a bit on our own. It is an expansive place, so expect to walk a lot. Here are some of the scenes.

Qiuyan and I 

Jade Peak Pagoda in the distance

The Emperor's office

Tower of Buddhist Incense on Longevity Hill

Wenchang Tower

Pavilion between Wenchang Tower and the Arch Bridge

Details of the Pavilion

The Arch Bridge and Kunming Lake

Arch Bridge

This is definitely a beautiful spot, one I plan on exploring more of  in subsequent trips. You can click the link above for more info. It is a late Jin, early Qing Dynasty construction. The lake is man made, hard to imagine how many peasants were out there building that thing. It was a favorite spot of the Dowager Empress Cixi. The tour guide never used her name, which I found odd, but called her the Dragon Lady. Must not be much love for Cixi in Beijing The next stop was the Beijing Zoo Panda exhibit. I've seen Pandas at the San Diego zoo before, but it was part of the tour, and they are cool to look at no matter how many times you have seen them.

After a short time at the zoo we were off to the Beijing Hutongs .There are not many left, as many were demolished to make room for the Olympics as well as apartment buildings for the millions that live in the city. They have kept a section of them, and will preserve them as a part of their heritage. So we loaded up onto a rickshaw and cruised through the area. 

The Hutong district is a really cool place to visit, and worth the time to check out. Part of the tour was visiting the home of a resident of the Hutongs. This was pretty cool. They had a nice pad. The husband is a famous artist, so theirs was probably nicer than most. He had his work for sale if you wanted to buy something but, it was cool that there was no big sales pitch, etc. They owned their Hutong, but many don't, they rent from the government. The government covers the exterior repairs to keep the look of the old district. Any inside repairs are the owners responsibility. After we left there the guide took us to a mall food court near the Temple of Heaven so we could get lunch. We had a big bowl of noodles which hit the spot after all the walking we had done. Some old guy next to me offered me some of his lunch and some sort of clear alcohol, I assume wine of some sort. I politely declined. I will certainly be more comfortable interacting with the locals in the future though. It was my experience throughout my trip, that the people of China are very kind and gracious. I certainly look forward to more adventures there.

Last on the itinerary was the Temple of Heaven The temple is in a huge park/temple complex just south of the inner ring of Beijing. It was built in the 1400s and is a Ming Dynasty construction, as are most things in Beijing. We approached from the east side down a long walk., and through some covered walkways. Since it is a park, many locals had gathered at the covered walkways to play a variety of card games and Chinese chess. It was really cool to see people getting together and enjoying life. The Temple it self is a gorgeous structure, where the Emperor would come to pray for good harvests etc. There is a small museum on site showing the steps the emperor went through to complete the rituals. It was in very basic English, with most of the info in Mandarin. Here are some pics of the Temple area.

 The Temple is quite ornate, and just a beautiful structure. Sadly you can no longer enter the Temple. The gate in the last picture leads to the south entrance and a rather large open air alter looking thing. We did not go down there but I have it on my list for another time. That is all for this time. Blogger is acting up and I am tired. After our stop here it was back to the hotel to relax the rest of the evening and rest up for an even bigger next day.