Day 189: The Summer Palace

There are 4 UNESCO World Heritage Sites in or close to Beijing - the Imperial Palace (Forbidden City), the Temple of Heaven, the Great Wall, and finally the Summer Palace. The palace had a long history, dating back around 700 years, but it is most associated with the Empress Dowager Cixi. Cixi was a master of court politics and went from being a concubine to ruling China through her son (and later nephew, who she locked away while she ruled in his place) for almost 50 years. Unfortunately her life of luxury and habit of diverting funds to expand the palace and for other personal projects sped the decline of the Qing Dynasty and China in general.

The site is a sprawling mix of buildings, temples, gardens, lakes and woods. I spent a good part of the day there, and there always seemed to be something new and interesting just over the next hill. Overall, it was my favourite of the big touristy places in Beijing.

In the evening I switched my things to the new hotel and met up with the other people who were going to be on my tour. I debated a few times whether I should do a tour or do things on my own, and ultimately decided to play it safe for my first time exploring around China. The group was 14 people (4 UK, 2 Ireland, 2 Australia, 3 Canada, 1 New Zealand, 2 Switzerland) and everybody was a lot of fun. The age demographics were a bit interesting as there were 4 people in their 20s, 7 in their 30s, and 3 in their 60s. Amusingly us youngsters got to know the older group pretty well because for a lot of the longest hikes it was us and the older group, with the middle ones taking it easy.

We had the first of many group dinners, and then mostly headed back to the hotel to call it a night.