BEIJING

THE SUMMER PALACE AND THE HUTONGS

For our second day in Beijing we started out for the Summer Palace.

The hotel was right by a Metro station and we used the Metro a lot during our stay. The Metro was modern and very efficient.  Fortunately they cater for English speakers and there was enough information that we found it very easy to use.  The automatic ticket machines had an English option and the network maps on the platform had Chinese and English names.  There is a flat fare system, any distance journey cost just 30c (20 pence).  The trains were always crowded and had specially designated seats for the aged, pregnant women and those with disabilities.  We never saw that working, unlike Singapore where we were always being offered seats.  The network runs all over Beijing and is still being extended.  We made one change and were outside the Summer Palace.

The construction started in 1750 By Emperor Quinlong as a luxurious royal garden for royal families to rest and entertain as a birthday present for his mother. It later became the main residence of royal members at the end of the Qing Dynasty (1644 - 1911). The Empress Dowager Cixi (1835 - 1908) apparently embezzled navy funds to reconstruct it as a resort. In 1903 she moved the seat of government from the Forbidden City in the centre of Beijing to the Summer palace where she controlled China until her death in 1908. Composed mainly of Longevity Hill and Kunming Lake, it occupies an area of 742.8 acres.  There are over 3,000 man-made ancient structures, towers, bridges and corridors.

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The North Gate at the Summer Palace

At the entrance to the grounds, this was a shopping area for the enjoyment of Empress Cixi

You can take a boat trip to Lake Kunming  from here

The exit to the lake

 

Below Longevity Hill 

This took the artist no time at all to create, magic

 

The hall of Buddhist Tenets

On the Hall of Buddhist Tenets

Looking over Kunming Lake covered in little boats on a hazy day

Baoyun Pavilion

 

The Tower of Fragrance of the Buddha

The Long Gallery (or Long Corridor) is the most classic feature in grounds of the Summer Palace. This 728-meter-long corridor is also the longest corridor in Chinese classic gardens. It stretches from east to the west, between the southern foot of Longevity Hill and parallel to Kunming Lake. The Long Gallery links the attractions spread along the area at the foot of Longevity Hill; while the gallery itself is a good observation platform as it commands a broad view of the lake and the hill.

Along the Long Corridor

Boats are available to take you to an island in the lake

The Marble Boat  also known as the Boat of Purity and Ease is a lakeside pavilion. It was first erected in 1755. The original pavilion was made from a base of large stone blocks which supported a wooden superstructure. It was destroyed in 1860 it was rebuilt by Empress Cixi and was made of wood painted to look like marble.   The pavilion has a sophisticated drainage system which channels rain water through four hollow pillars. The water is finally released into the lake through the mouths of four dragon heads.

Ornate gateway by the Marble Boat

A boat returning from the lake

 

Outside the Summer Palace, an electrical system leaving something to be desired 

The Metro took us to the Bell Tower and the Drum Tower.

The Drum Tower, built in 1272,  is mounted on a 4 metre stone and brick base.  It is 47.9 metres high and is a two story building with the China Committee for the Promotion of Minority Art on the first floor.  They love long flamboyant titles.  The second floor is the an exhibition area.  Originally there was one big drum and 24 smaller one, but only the big one remains.  They were beaten quickly 18 time and then slowly for 18 times.  The purpose of the drumming was to tell the time at night.  The drum is now beaten four times an hour every day. 

The Bell Tower stands just North of the Drum Tower.  It is a brick and stone building also with two stories. Hanging on an eight-square wooden frame of the second floor, the bell in it is the largest and heaviest in China. It is 7.02 meters high with a weight of 63 tons . It was made of copper, and you can hear its round and clear sound from far away. Two 2-meter-long  wooden logs are used to ring it. Legend has it that the bell-maker’s daughter threw herself into the molten metal to ensure the successful casting of the bell after a number of failures.

The Drum and Bell Towers are in an area of old Beijing called the Hutongs.  Here the people live in tiny accommodation off tiny lanes.  The rules of Feng Shui don't let you see into the living area at the end of a small entry. 

 

A hutong alley

Make do and mend

A modern toilet block amongst the old houses

Colourful tricycles waiting for the tourists

That evening we treated ourselves to Beijing (Peking) Duck. We went to the Da Dong Restaurant which was within easy walking distance of the hotel. It is recognized as being one of the best such restaurants in Beijing.

 

We had reserved for that evening and we were graciously escorted up to the second floor passing the ovens where the ducks are cooked.  The dish is prized for the thin, crisp skin sliced in front of the diners by the cook. Ducks bred specially for the dish are slaughtered after 65 days and seasoned before being roasted in a closed oven. The meat is eaten with a series of accompaniments.  The menu was beautifully printed and was a 160 pages long with helpful coloured photographs.  There was a remarkable selection of dishes, some of which you probably wouldn't want to try i.e. Pig's intestines. 

 

We ordered half a duck which our server had suggested in broken English would be fine for us.  We also ordered soup and bamboo shoots as a vegetable.   What was surprising to us was that the other things arrived unordered at various times.  We had an extra soup, a drink each - fruit juice and a large whisky.  We began with an unordered appetizer, not sure what it was but it was rather good.  

The duck is carved by the table by a a chef and along comes a basket containing small very thin pancakes plus the condiments, cucumber, pickles, hoisin sauce, shallots, sugar, ginger and a few things we couldn't recognize.  You take a slice of duck, dip it into hoisin sauce and you add whatever else you like from the condiment plate.  For the skin you dip that in sugar and munch away.

 

Ready for the duck, some whisky keft

The condiment plate

The chef at work

 Our duck

Elegant bamboos shoots

 

Another surprise item, little apples in sugar we think, with the Tiramisu we did order

It was lovely meal and was much cheaper than you might have thought particularly seeing all the extras we got.  As we left we passed by another restaurant joined onto Da Dong.  It specialized in sea cucumber which was interesting to Vancouver Islanders because there is a plan to harvest said animals in the straight between the island and Denman Island just down the road.  Can't think why you would want to eat them.

Sea cucumbers

It had been a great day.