Beijing - Summer Palace

The Summer Palace, originally named Garden of Clear Ripples or Qingyi Yuan, was the royal refuge from the insufferable summer heat in the Forbidden City. The site has palace temples, gardens, pavillions, lakes, and corridors on 290 hectares. Lakes make up at least 3/4 of the park.

Many boats fill the lakes.

Paddle boats and the tree lined shore.

The 17-arch bridge

The boat we took across the lake.

One of the crowded corridors with various shaped windows.

Tower of Buddhist Incense

The gang near 17-arch bridge.

One of 14,000 different pictures painted on the beams and cross beams of the Long Corridor.

Ceiling along the Long Corridor which stretches 728 meters from the Gate of the Inviting Moon in the east to the Shizhang Pavillion in the west.

Gate of Dispelling Clouds in the middle of the Long Corridor.

Clear and Peaceful Boat (aka Marble Boat) built in 1755 by Empress Dowager Cixi as a symbol of the stability of the Qing Dynasty.

Beijing - The Temple of Heaven & surrounding Park

The Temple of Heaven is inside a walled 267 hectare park with a gate at each compass point. We arrived in the morning to catch glimpses of the morning activities within the wonderful park - group exercises of various types, games, music, and plenty of people walking around the gardens. The park is a great place to hang out either being active or relaxing & people watching. The Temple originally was a vast stage for solemn rites performed by the Son of Heaven, who prayed for good harvests and sought divine clearance & atonement for the sins of the people. The halls are round and the bases are square to symbolize heaven and earth.

The twirling banner group.

The dancing group

Some of the musicians

Chinese checkers?

A paddle and ball game Joey played.

Video of a string-spinning-noise-making top toy

Joey in a tree in the park

John and I at the Temple of Heaven

Joey in another "chamber pot"

Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests - every inch is decorated and brightly colored - the pillars support the ceiling without nails or cement.

Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests

I find the colors and detailed woodwork fascinating.

Zhaoheng Gate (the southern gate) was the traditional approach to the temple.

The Temple of Heaven with the carved stone in the middle of the stairway.

Another gate.

Heavenly Center Stone: the uppermost terrace of the Circular Mound on the Round Altar is paved with 9 concentric rings of stone slabs; the slab in the middle is the Heavenly Center Stone; it is surrounded by 9 stones in the first ring, 18 in the second ring, up to 81 in the 9th ring symbolizing the 9 Heavens. Odd numbers possess heavenly significance and 9 is the highest single-digit odd number. Each terrace and set of stairs of the Circular Mound are composed in multiples of 9.

Some of the side buildings have sacred texts on turning wood blocks.

Imperial Vault of Heaven - contains tablets of the emperor's ancestors, employed during the winter solstice ceremonies.

Beijing - Olympic Village

The Olympic Village in Beijing was fun to see. John and the rest of the group saw it at night also just before the lights were turned off. I was back at the hotel overly tired and having back spasms which makes walking very painful. They took the subway and got a couple photos taken before it all went dark. The next day we all went and decided to pay to get into the Bird's Nest. We were rushed for time so we didn't go into the water cube.

The torch building and/or hotel

The water cube and Olympic Tower (blue with rings at top - it changes colors) at night.

The Olympic Tower during the day.

Ron and John with the cube behind them.

The cube up close

The Bird's Nest (National Stadium) at night.

Day view of the Bird's Nest.

Inside the Bird's Nest

John and I inside the Bird's Nest

Bird's Nest - the ceiling is interesting with the structure and the opening.

Tourists can pay to have their picture taken in Chinese Olympic jackets and holding a torch and flowers like a medal ceremony.

Joey being blonde haired and blue eyed usually becomes a tourist attraction with crowds gathering. The Chinese LOVE to take his picture and pose with him. By the end of his 3 years in China, he will be in millions of photo albums.

Beijing - Tiananmen Sq area & Forbidden City

After The Great Wall, we headed back to Beijing and the area of Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. Nearby is Zero Point - the beginning of China's highways.
This photo of Zero Point shows the center wheel with spokes representing the system of highways radiating from Beijing to all parts of China. The four directions have symbols of ancient Chinese mythical animals: Qinglong (Green Dragon), Baihu (White Tiger), Zhuque (Vermillion Bird) and Xuanwu (Black Tortoise).


John and I with the Front Gate (Qianmen Gate) which is at the southern end of Tiananmen Square. It used to be the central opening in the wall between the inner and outer cities. It was one of Beijing's 9 gates and the link between the north and south parts of the city.

Statues and guards outside of Mao Zedong Mausoleum.

Tiananmen Square, The Great Hall of the People (large building that is on the 100 Yuan bill), and the Monument to the People's Heroes (tower on the right).

In Tiananmen Square, you stand in the symbolic center of the Chinese universe.

The Forbidden City was off limits for 500 years (hence the name) and is the largest and best preserved cluster of ancient buildings in China. Twenty-four emperors, 14 of the Ming Dynasty and 10 of the Qing Dynasty, called it home and rarely left the premises. The Forbidden City consists of many Halls with each having its own significance and purpose such as meeting dignitaries, certain ceremonies, lounge, banquets, etc. along the north-south axis. The western and eastern sides have living quarters, libraries, temples, theaters, and even a tennis court of the last emperor. At the northern end of the City is the Imperial Garden. The Forbidden City is a very large place and we saw just a fraction of it.

View of the Gate of Heavenly Peace that leads into the Forbidden City from the south.

The view from on the Meridian Gate looking south towards Duan Gate.

The Gate of Supreme Harmony

Not sure what this is but there were many around the City.

Brett and Leslie (and me -blocked from view) being smooshed in the crowd.

Joey in a "chamber pot"

Juniper tree that was intentionally split to form an inverted V, which is the Chinese character "ren" that means human being, and placed front of each of the four doors of Wanchun Ting Pavillion.