The Summer Palace and Beijing Olympic Village

To really relish in the winter wonderland of Beijing and its frigid temperatures, Vinny and I ventured to the Summer Palace which is located on the west outskirts of Beijing. It must have been so nice to be an emperor in China and have a Forbidden Palace and a Summer Palace to spend hot, humid days in. Vinny and I at this point felt much more comfortable navigating the Beijing subways so off we went. As we entered the Summer Palace gates, my ears picked up something familiar. Someone was speaking Vietnamese! I was so excited to hear a language that I could understand I started hopping up and down. Turns out that there was a tour group of Vietnamese-Australians visiting and they had a Vietnamese speaking tour guide. Yay!!!

The summer palace was wonderful and was so beautiful in the winter, I can't imagine how gorgeous it must be in the summer. I do have to say that although visiting Beijing in the winter is incredibly cold (especially given the horrible cold temps in the entire northern hemisphere), you avoid tourist crowds and see the city and sights through a different lense. The summer palace was built around a lake called Kunming Lake and it was completely frozen. Vinny and I were able to venture out to one of the many pavilions (I believe the one we were one was called the Pavilion of Serenity) that overlooked the lake. The sight was absolutely stunning. Here I am standing on a pavalion carved of stone, overlooking a frozen lake, with the sun setting to my west and dipping in the sky amongst mountains covered in hazy clouds. It was an absolutely amazing experience and although my toes and fingers ached from the cold, it was definitely worth it.

Vinny and I decided to be adventorous and instead of walking around the perimeter of the lake back to one of the entrance gates, we ventured out onto the ice and walked across the frozen lake. That's another experience that I'll always remember. It was absolutely magical. I felt like I was Lucy when she goes to through the wardrobe in the Chronicles of Narnia and enters Narnia. I guess I was just entering Chinese Narnia but there are absolutely no words that can pinpoint how amazing the entire experience through the summer palace was. For my readers, if you go to Beijing, do not miss the summer palace and I suggest you go during the winter time, it's even more magical.

Since we were in Beijing, we had to see the Olympic Village and the Bird's nest is as stunning as it looked like on TV. An interesting experience for us when traveling via subway to the village was when we transfered from one line to another we had to walk through a hallway and then down a set of stairs to the other subway platform. There must have been about 200-250 people all trying to get down a narrow staircase. It was so congested that you didn't need to think about moving, you just moved because the person behind you was directly pushing into your back with their body and forcing you to move. If anybody has ever seen those documentaries where they make food on assembly lines and then they roll down the belt and are sorted and packaged, that's what I felt like. Although the Olympic Village was impressive, I can't imagine what it was like during the actual Olympics. I can barely handle the hustle and bustle of 16 million Beijing inhabitants, the Olympics must have been crazy. A part of me is really glad that I was able to watch it from the comfort of my TV in the US, I don't think I would have been able to handle it if I was in China. Maybe that's why Beijing people when as a mass act so frigid and rude, they're just so used to fighting for a little space here and there. Vinny and I agree that when you meet a Beijing person one on one, many are extremely nice but when everyone is together in a mass, watch your back and your feet (they are notorious for spitting everywhere).

Next post: Yashow Clothing Market