Coming Home

So our trip is coming to an end. We had a free day yesterday in which we shopped, ate, visited some of our new friends and packed. We are sad to be leaving but very excited to be coming home.

We are visiting the Lama Temple this morning before we depart at noon. it should be an nice ending to our trip.

Summer Palace

Today we went to the Summer Palace by bus. The Summer Palace was used as a summer residence by China's imperial rulers - as a retreat from the main imperial palace now known as the Palace Museum (or 'Forbidden City') - a pleasure ground in the countryside, yet near to the city.


Brieg History - Later, the Mongol Emperor Kublai Khan (Yuan Dynasty, 1279-1368), who wanted to improve Beijing's water supply, ordered the construction of canals to transport water from the Western Hills to the Summer Palace. He also enlarged the lake (now called KunMing Lake) to act as a reservoir.
In 1750, Emperor QianLong (1736-1796) of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) added substantially to the gardens of the Summer Palace. His appointed designers reproduced the styles of various palaces and gardens from around China. KunMing Lake was extended to imitate the West Lake in HangZhou.In 1860, the Anglo-French Allied Forces invaded Beijing and set fire to many of the buildings within the Summer Palace.
In 1888, Dowager Empress CiXi, with embezzled funds from the Imperial Navy, restored the grand gardens. The reconstruction and enlargement of the Summer Palace continued for ten years. After completion, she renamed the gardens 'YiHeYuan' ('Garden of Peace and Harmony').
The Empress Dowager CiXi moved her administration to the renovated YiHeYuan in 1889 and the gardens that had long been an imperial pleasure ground became the primary Summer Palace.

We visited the Tower of the Fragrance of the Buddha. We climbed many stairs to get the the tower. A statue of the thousand-handed Guanshiyin Buddha, cast in bronze and gilded with gold, stands inside the tower. The statue was breathtaking and we saw many people praying. We sat at the top and took in the breeze and the view.

In order to get to the Tower we walked in the long corridor. It is full of hand paintings depicting different scenes in Chinese Life. It is the longest, covering 728 meters and has over 8000 paintings.

We crossed the Kunming Lake by boat to get back to the Hall of Benevolence and Longevity. It was a spectacular day.

A visit to the Capital Museum of Beijing was on our agenda. The museum has many exhibits which reflect the history and culture of China. We visited exhibits on selected cultural relics, ancient porcelain,Beijing folk art, Buddhist statures, ancient calligraphy and ancient jade and bronze.

There was so much to see that it took us awhile to get through the entire museum. Some of the calligraphy and pottery dated back to 1100. Unbelievable!

We then ventured to an historic row of streets known for it's silk. It was exciting to see all the vendors and people bustling around, trying to persuade us to buy their wares. Rest assured, your children have been thinking about you as they were trying to find the perfect souvenirs.

Tomorrow we are going to the Summer Palace- it's supposed to be a hot day!

Bejing Zoo

We have had intermittent Internet so I apologize for the delay in posting on the blog. I know that you are watching it to see what your children are doing.

Friday we went to the Beijing Zoo. We ventured out on the subway, which was very efficient and CLEAN. Besides getting stuck in a severe thunderstorm for 20 minutes, the day was nice.

The zoo was fairly big and housed polar bears, panda bears, penguins, amazing tigers and more. The giraffe was the tallest any of us had seen. The scenery was very lush, green and peaceful.

After the zoo we had individual hot pots for lunch and back to the hostel for a nap. Later in the evening, the boys participated in a basketball game against some of our fellow Chinese students.

Today we went to Tiena men Square and the Forbidden city. We ventured over to the square after experiencing the Chinese subway. Much to our surprise it was very clean but very crowded. We stood in the square and just observed the sights and people.

We then took a city bus to a restaurant to experience Chinese hot pot. It was like having individual fondue pots with burners in front of each of us. We ordered the type of broth we wanted and the meat and seasonings. The plates of food were then brought to our stations and we cooked the food ourselves. IT was very filling and quite good.
On full stomachs, we walked back to the square to experience the Forbidden City.

The Forbidden City was the Chinese imperial palace from the Ming Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty. For almost five hundred years, it served as the home of 24 emperors and their households, as well as the ceremonial and political center of Chinese government. It now is named the Palace Museum and houses artifacts from the dynasties.

The architecture varies depending on which emperor had certain pavilions built however they all have yellow roofs which signify emperor. The grounds are over a miel ong with many things to read and see in each pavilion. The Imperial garden which is located on the North side of the City was beautiful. Everyone certainly enjoyed the day.

Peking Duck

I was remiss in mentioning that yesterday while visiting the Great Wall of China we went to a famous restaurant for Peking Duck. Most of us tried and and liked it very much. We tasted traditional roasted duck along with various other duck dishes.

WE DID IT. We climbed the Great Wall of China. It was amazing. Most of us made it to the top and became "real men" in Chinese cultures. The view and magnitude of the wall was unfathomable. How something like this was made without modern technology really blows your mind.

The view from the wall was unforgettable. You can see for miles, mountains and other parts of the wall. Some parts of the wall were quite steep and took a lot of energy to climb.

Some of us took the roller coaster cars back down and ended up in a flea market, zoo area where we shopped and had snacks.

We visited the Ming Underground Palace. It is a place where 13 Ming emperors are buried along with some of their belongings. It was intriguing.

Tomorrow we are going to the Forbidden City. History at it's best!