The Summer Palace - Part 1 - Imperial Getaway

This was a place that was very high on my list of places to get to (as high a priority as the Great Wall). So, last week, after a few days of rain, when I saw that the sky was clear (and blue!) for the first time since I got here, I knew that was the day. You can't just spontaneously head off to the Great Wall, so the Summer Palace had to be the destination.

I've struggled with how to present this place. It almost defies description. It is in many ways almost the polar opposite of the Forbidden City. While the Forbidden City feels cold, sterile, and inhuman, the Summer Palace is full of warmth, a paradise on the edge of Beijing, even if it was a place of intrigue and treachery.

If the Forbidden City was the "office" of the Emperor, the Summer Palace was his home (or his cottage). Wouldn't you love to have a cottage that looked like this? (Ok, maybe it is a little bit far from the cottage to the waterfront, but hey, I bet he could get somebody to carry him if necessary).

After walking through the gate (spared you again) my first impression was "Oh my God, I am not going to have nearly enough time here". And that turned out to be true. I spent more than 3 hours there, shot pictures till my camera battery died (on a full charge), and then headed home after seeing maybe one tenth of what there is to see.

The Palace grounds surround a man made lake. The entire complex encompasses 726 acres. This place is far bigger than the Forbidden City, and far prettier. It is worth noting that, two-times, invading forces have burned the Summer Palace to the ground, while leaving the Forbidden City intact, perhaps an indication of which was consisdered more important.

A number of ferry-like boats can take you to various places around the lake. You can also rent paddleboats or rowboats to explore the lake by yourself. At the east gate entrance where I started, there is a large pavillion called (unimaginateively) "The Spacious Pavillion".

The pavillion sits at the base of a 150m long bridge with 17 arches called "The Seventeen Arch Bridge" (oh, oh, I sense a trend starting here).

The bridge is guarded at both ends by a pair of lion-like sculptures.

There are also over 500 additional lion guardians along the length of the bridge.

The bridge leads to an island at the south end of the lake called (you guessed it) the "South Lake Island" (sigh, I think I preferred the pretensious names of the Forbidden City to the obvious/redundant names here, but that is the only category in which the Forbidden City beats the Summer Palace).