Today was our last day in China (or at least we thought it was). We checked out of the Capital Hotel in Beijing and headed down a very smoggy highway to see the Summer Palace. The fog/smog was so thick we could hardly see the other side of the road.
I believe that the city is going to be cleared of traffic before the Olympic Games next year to try and clear the air. Today the sun was struggling to be seen even though it was a cloudless day. See photo attached of the sun barely visable through the smog.(first photo)
It was dissapointing that when we got to the palace the smog was so thick that we could not even take a boat road accross the lake - which was something that we had on our program. It would have been just beautiful on a lovely day. Today it was just a sea of white nothing.
The palace grounds were huge and it took a lot of walking just to see a small portion. The Summer Palace was the last Imperial Resort built in fuedal China, consists mainly of the longevity Hill and the Kumming Lake.
There is a huge long covered walkway (longest in the world I believe) which leads down to the marble ship (known as the seventeen-arch bridge) on the Kumming lake (image attached).
The high arched bridge (image attached is known as the Jade Belt Bridge)
Again the buildings used a lot of colour and the footpaths were made of intricate patterns.
It was an interesting place full of history. We had some more fun with the street merchants on the way out of the Palace doing our last minute bargain shopping before heading to the airport for our flight to Guangzhou Airport.
1 comment:
Hello,
Dear Jan.so happy to open your blog. it broaden my outlook.if I have change,i should be come to Australia.and your flowers are very beautiful...it looks verything is good...
I hope your mun always keep health,well.
judy
Post a Comment