Wow! Today was just completely wow. I started the day off thinking it would be an average day, since our itinerary stated that we would be in class all morning learning Chinese characters. Instead, I was surprised to find out that we were visiting the Summer Palace in Beijing. The Summer Palace is beautiful, old, and very large. Our tour guide said that it would take us two days to walk the entire length of it! Burton (the tour guide) was super nice and told us really fascinating stories about the history of the Palace and its inhabitants. I learned a lot through him and I hope we get to see him again while we’re in China.
Although we didn’t walk the entire length of the Palace, we certainly walked a good percentage of it! We arrived around 930am and didn’t leave until 3, so we saw plenty. I loved looking at the traditional style architecture and imagined what life was like in the 1800’s, when the Palace was first built. I wonder what the weather was like back in those days. If the heat was anything compared to how it was this afternoon, then I give them much kudos. I had never felt heat like this in my life (and I’m from Georgia so that’s not a light statement). I think we all went through about 3/4 bottles of water each. It was worth it though because the views were absolutely breathtaking. Take a look!
