Another scorching day. We found the entrance, again no thanks to the signage from the metro, and joined a queue. A sweet girl in front of us tried out her English on us. She was very shy and kept apologising for her English, which was really pretty good, and kept turning back to her mother as if for encouragement that it was ok to speak again.
The palace is really a huge complex of palaces, temples and pavilions set in sprawling grounds over a hill with lakes at the back. Just the topography makes it more attractive than the Forbidden City. Our first stop was Suzhou Street, not really a street at all, but a re-creation of a shopping street around a canal. Quite photogenic, but the shops are all full of the tackiest souvenirs. And here is a tip for any traveller. However hungry, do not try and eat at any of Suzhou Street's little cafes. Our meal was the most vile we had in China, and one of the most expensive. The chicken dish had all the bits of chicken one might throw away - every piece came with a bit of bone attached. Really nasty.
Having done the tacky tourist bit we then advanced up the hill through the palaces and temples, and in the 30C heat. All perfectly photogenic, and like the Forbidden City one couldn't help but admire the titles to all the structures we came across - the Hall of Jade Ripples, the Temple of the Sea of Wisdom, or the Hall of Happiness and Longevity.
Sadly pretty much every label explained that the relevant building had been restored after being destroyed by Anglo-French forces in 1860. I am sure that must have been some misinterpretation. Surely we Brits wouldn't do such things. Did they mistake our attempts at redevelopment of brownfield sites?
After having scaled the peak as it were, we went round through the grounds to the lakeside. One of the features here is a nice piece of decadence - the Marble Boat. It is marble at the bottom but the superstructure is just wood painted to resemble marble. An attractive folly at the lake edge - a non-floating boat.
Now although this was the summer palace and meant to be a retreat from the fierce heat of the Forbidden City, even with a tree lined hill and a lake, it was pretty damned hot and you need all the shade you can get. So they built the "Long Corridor", an open corridor over 700 metres long, gaily painted with various scenes above one's head.
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| Note the swastika! |
Having gone through the main building complexes, we finished off our trip by walking right round the lake. In many ways this was the nicest part of our trip - less crowded, shaded by trees and level ground throughout. And of course very scenic.
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| This is a good view back to the temples climbing up the hillside. Note the haziness. This I am afraid is the infamous Beijing smog. It didn't spoil our trip to the capital and you didn't really notice it, except when you looked to any distance when things just fade out. Oh, and it was always grey - note the total absence of blue sky even when the temperatures were, well, el scorchio. |
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| The 17-Arch Bridge. I will leave it to your imagination as to how it got its name. |
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| We saw lots of funny signs during our stay. This could have been a standard no swimming sign, but "no romping" probably conveys a broader prohibition. |
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| Jade Belt Bridge |
Having walked round the West Causeway we headed back to the hotel for a well-earned shower before heading out for dinner. My guide book recommended a courtyard restaurant called the Lao Zhai Yuan. With a bit of effort we found it and it did feel a lot more authentic than our previous mall experience. But, while we made it before closing time, we hadn't made it before they had run out of their signature dish - Peking Duck. Frustrating!
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