Day Twelve

Summer Palace - Beijing West Train Station

A little bit of a lie in we headed down stairs to reception to speak to our tour man Michael again who is extremely helpful. We wanted to go to Summer Palace today & he could tell us the best & quickest route that's for sure. With our little back packs sorted for the day we took the 10 minute walk to the subway. Once again bags scanned, tickets bought we had to change trains 3 times in order to get to the Summer Palace.

Off the station it was about a 5 minute walk to the North Palace Gate entrance. The place was that big you could get in to it from all angles. Our entrance fee paid & a map paid for we made our way under a traditionally design archway & we where in.

There seemed to be a lot of people around the entrance & it wasn't much better inside. We headed over a little bridge & to this little street called Suzhou. We had to walk down some steps to get on to the Suzhou Street but the street looked fabulous! There were traditional buildings going round this massive lake. There were lovely little bridges that were going over parts of the lake & to other parts of the street. About 1/2 way round we could hear this lovely angelic music coming from somewhere. When we followed the path further round there was a Chinese man playing on traditional chinese instruments & playing the lovely soft Chinese music. He passed me what looked like a funny recorder so I could try & have a go! In order to play the instruments you needed grace so I was terrible. No matter how much he tried to teach me how to play I was still rubbish & Andy was even worse.

Continuing further round & after going over a few bridges we were back where we started. We went back up the stairs & headed deeper in to the grounds. We passed through a tower called the Tower of Dawn Light. We where walking through lovely gardens & walkways & as we did so we passed some lovely looking temples. We followed down this lovely laid out walkway & we headed in to a lovely garden area called the Garden of Harmonious Intrests. This was similar to the Suzhou Street earlier only this was smaller & more peaceful. There was another lake in the middle so we sat on the edge for a short while & watched the world & the other tourists go by.

All around the grounds where temples & we reached a part called the East Palace Gate, this was the busiest area by far. There where tour guides waving their flags everywhere whilst people from their groups shuffled along. The East Gate had 3 temples & the main temple had statues of dragons either side outside the front. Many people where getting their photos took next to the statues.

On to the next part we walked to we came out on a lovely waterfront with a big massive lake called Kumming Lake. The view was just amazing! There where little dragon boats that were sailing by & you could hire pedlar boats if you wanted. It was just really nice, it looked like it was a special place for the people in the area. Far away you could see a circular temple & you could tell that this was the main feature around the Summer Palace. It only looked small in the distance but we know for a fact that it was huge. We decided to head left around the waters edge & follow it round to see where it would take us, hopefully we could get to see the circular temple.

Walking around Kumming Lake we passed lots of other beautiful walkways & there were people sitting all along the fencing of the fabulously decorated type walkways which had pavilions called the Pavilion of Mesmerising Scenery & many others. Right the way along where vendors selling fresh corn on the cob so there were people also sitting around munching. In order to get to the round temple we had to go past several other places. We went under the Glowing Clouds & Holyland Archway, through the Gate of Dispelling Clouds, past the Second Palace Gate then we had reached the circular temple that we had seen from the other side of the lake - it was called the Tower of the Fragrance of the Buddha. It was simply stunning!

We climbed up a series of decorative steps & slopes & we where at the foot of the steps you had to climb to see the temple. Still aching from the Great Wall of China climb yesterday it took us a while to get up all the steps. At the top you could look out & see across the whole of Summer Palace & for miles. Inside the tower there was a beautiful gold Buddha that looked out across the lake - this was a place where people were praying. After resting for a while & checking out the views we had a drink & started the descent to the bottom to continue exploring. At the bottom we grabbed a couple of corn on the cobs from the vendors & joined other people sitting on the pavilion walls whilst eating theirs.

We decided that we would head back through the palace instead of going along the lake. On the way through we passed more & more buildings, this place was endless with places & things to see. We walked in to a big courtyard called the Hall of Happiness & Longevity, outside the massive building there were big iron incense burners but these weren't being used. After nosing around we headed for a place called the Garden of Virtue & Harmony. As we walked in there was a stage that had been set up at the front of the building & there was a traditional Chinese performance taking place so we stood on the steps & watched as they danced & acted around to music - it was fascinating.

Another place that we had seen on the tourist map was the Webchang Gallery so we went there to look around. Inside the gallery was lots of artefacts & items that were used when the emperors & empresses lived in the Summer Palace - it was really interesting. As the sun was starting to go down we headed back on to the lake side & decided to walk around to the other side as there was a massive bridge leading over to another interesting looking place. We passed a few pagodas & headed over the bridge which was designed with dragon heads all across it. The sun was really setting when we got the the other side. We had reached the other building & headed up the steps, the lake was calm & you could see the magnificence of the Tower of the Fragrance of the Buddha. It was lovely to see it in a different light. As it was getting late we decided that we should be getting back. We had spent a full day in the Summer Palace but to tell you the truth you could have spent a week there & still not manage to see everything it was just too big!

What another long day, we have been doing so much in so little time! With the day nearly over we had to make another stop before we could head for our beds. Aaaargh, we had to try & tackle Beijing West Train Station. We took the subway & got off at the Military Museum stop but we didn't have a clue which way to head for & we were only armed with the China Lonely Planet book. After asking for directions from 2 young girls they didn't have a clue. We then asked a lady who worked in the train station to direct us. She point in a direction so we just followed & headed in the direction she pointed hoping that it was right. We ended up walking down some dark dark streets which had snide little cafes along the side. You could tell that this is where people live & that there wasn't any hostels around this area. After further managing to get better directions from one of the little tobacco shops we had managed to find the station. The place was massive. We had to cross over a big massive bridge to get over a big carriageway & the area was bustling with that many people it was rather intimidating.

At the ticket counter we explained where we wanted to go & discussed the best price of getting there. We forgot that we needed money so we had to jump out of the queue we waiting in for ages & find a cash machine. Money withdraw & we where back in the long queue again. Train tickets bought so we could now rest easy & head back to the hostel district. Now to find the bus stop. We seen a big bus station outside of the train station so our instincts were telling us to head for there, so we did! After walking around confused for a while we asked a lady who was sitting in a little office - I presumed she worked for the buses & I had presumed right. We weren't in the right place for the bus we needed so she pointed in a direction shouted a lot of Chinese & then ushered us away! We followed her point of direction & she was right, we had found the correct bus stop. After 2 buses back to the hostel we were starving so we needed to find some food.

There was a noodle place about 3 doors down from our hostel so we decided to go in there as we didn't want to walk far. Andy got this meat in a hot sauce with rice & I had a noodle soup which was disgusting but I ate it because I was hungry. Whilst sitting & eating our meal there was a young Chinese girl that had order loads of the menu. When she had finished & when the staff weren't looking she just got up & walked out without paying! We were so surprised as the food is so cheap.

Back in the hostel with a few things packed we went to bed & decided because we had a late check-out time packing can wait! Off to Xi'an tomorrow.........