The day we went to The Summer Palace most of the water was frozen over, and the wind was really harsh. But it didn't take away from the intrigue that surrounded the palace.
(The doors to the throne room.)
(The Summer Palace has the longest covered walkway out of all of the palaces in China.)
(At many touristy places throughout China you can pay to dress up as an ancient figure/hero and have your picture taken. While we were buying water bottles I spotted this little girl having her picture taken.)
(A pavilion near the restrooms.)
(The bedroom of The Dowager Empress. A bit sparser than I expected actually. The Dowager Empress kept her nephew in this palace so he wouldn't have a chance to usurp her authority. She sent him a clock. Which is an extreme insult in Chinese culture. The word 送钟 [song-jong] to give a clock sounds the same as to see someone to their death. Even today if you give a Chinese person a clock it is basically treated as a death wish.)
(昆明湖 Kunming Hu [kwin-ming hoo] surrounds the palace. Most of it was frozen over that day! The weather was freezing!)
(Just after entering the gate you come up on this courtyard.)
(The front gate, actually the name in Chinese doesn't actually mean "Summer Palace" I would ask around if anybody could tell me what it meant exactly but no one really could say. The characters literally mean "check peace garden." Go figure!)
(Approaching the main entrance of The Summer Palace)
2 comments:
Hey Art,
I went to the Summer Palace in the summer (in 2000). It was beautiful. By the way,what's up with the peace sign in all your pictures?
it's just a thing all of us exchange students have picked up. the peace sign that is. lots of chinese people do it, so now we do it too :)
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