Built in the 1100s, and continually added on to, the Summer Palace, where royalty took their leisure, is probably the most beautiful place in Beijing (in my humble and limited opinion). I took the above shot from the Tower of Buddhist Incense. Is there a Tower of Regular Incense somewhere? Here's a tower of Buddhas. Behold the beheaded Buddha:
The temples, living quarters, theatres, outbuildings, etc., are surrounded by gorgeous, lush parkland and cover about 3 square kilometres. The grounds have names like Longevity Hill, Jade Spring Mountain, Fragrant Hill, Garden of Clear Ripples, Garden of Perfection and Brightness, etc.; you get the picture. In the middle of the palace grounds is a lake, to which there is a bridge, and upon which there is a temple. All those specks are sight-seeing shuttle boats:
Oh, and the lake is man-made and the dirt from the hole was used to make the hill upon which is the aforementioned Tower. It's literally the only hill in Beijing...a very flat city (good for biking).Some artistic garden work:
A professional Tai-Chi practitioner in an outdoor hallway: heh heh
And a happy tourist (since there was so much beauty and relatively few fellow excursionists):
1 comment:
Love the names of the places. I often think of nicer names that our roads could have. Would you rather live on 33rd Avenue or Bird of Paradise Drive? However Peking Alley might not go over so well!-n.
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