The kids loved the chop sticks! But they would go hungry if they had to depend on them to eat. Luckily the table had fork also. I have gotten really used to using chopsticks because rarely are there forks on the tables. I am guessing this is a frequent stop for the tour buses of westerners.
Time to board the bus again and the next stop is the Summer Palace. We were all full of food and exhausted from our morning sightseeing. But onward to the next place!!!
The Summer Palace (simplified Chinese: 颐和园; traditional Chinese: 頤和園; pinyin: Yíhé Yuán; literally "Gardens of Nurtured Harmony") is a palace in Beijing, China. The Summer Palace is mainly dominated by Longevity Hill (60 meters high) and the Kunming Lake. It covers an expanse of 2.9 square kilometers, three quarters of which is water. The central Kunming Lake covering 2.2 square kilometers was entirely man made and the excavated soil was used to build Longevity Hill. In the Summer Palace, one finds a variety of palaces, gardens, and other classical-style architectural structures.
The Summer Palace started out life as the Garden of Clear Ripples (simplified Chinese: 清漪园; traditional Chinese: 清漪園; pinyin: Qīngyī Yuán) in 1750 (Reign Year 15 of Qianlong Emperor). Artisans reproduced the garden architecture styles of various palaces in China. Kunming Lake was created by extending an existing body of water to imitate the West Lake in Hangzhou. The palace complex suffered two major attacks—during the Anglo-French allied invasion of 1860 (with the Old Summer Palace also ransacked at the same time), and during the Boxer Rebellion, in an attack by the eight allied powers in 1900. The garden survived and was rebuilt in 1886 and 1902. In 1888, it was given the current name, Yihe Yuan. It served as a summer resort for Empress Dowager Cixi, who diverted 30 million taels of silver, said to be originally designated for the Chinese navy (Beiyang Fleet), into the reconstruction and enlargement of the Summer Palace.
In December 1998, UNESCO included the Summer Palace on its World Heritage List. It declared the Summer Palace "a masterpiece of Chinese landscape garden design. The natural landscape of hills and open water is combined with artificial features such as pavilions, halls, palaces, temples and bridges to form a harmonious ensemble of outstanding aesthetic value." It is a popular tourist destination but also serves as a recreational park.
That is a Buddist Temple in the back ground on the hill.
The Summer Palace was a beautiful place, but it was time to move on to the next stop on the tour… Now we see the Temple of Heaven. Kasi told us it would take about 45 minutes to get to the next stop. Within a few minutes the bus got totally quiet and nearly everyone was asleep. A power nap was just what this group needed.
Well so much for the naps… we have arrived at the Temple and more walking. Poor Austin… he kept telling us ‘My feet hurt… I am going down… going down fast!’ But like a trooper, he kept on walking.
The Temple of Heaven, literally the Altar of Heaven (simplified Chinese: 天坛; traditional Chinese: 天壇; pinyin: Tiāntán; Manchu: Abkai mukdehun) is a complex of Taoist buildings situated in the southeastern part of central Beijing. The complex was visited by the Emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties for annual ceremonies of prayer to Heaven for good harvest. It is regarded as a Taoist temple, although Chinese Heaven worship, especially by the reigning monarch of the day, pre-dates Taoism.
The temple complex was constructed from 1406 to 1420 during the reign of the Yongle Emperor, who was also responsible for the construction of the Forbidden City in Beijing. The complex was extended and renamed Temple of Heaven during the reign of the Jiajing Emperor in the 16th century. The Jiajing Emperor also built three other prominent temples in Beijing, the Temple of Sun (日壇)in the east , the Temple of Earth (地壇)in the north , and the Temple of Moon (月壇)in the west . The Temple of Heaven was renovated in the 18th century under the Qianlong Emperor. Due to the deterioration of state budget, this became the last large-scale renovation of the temple complex in the imperial time.
Even at the Temple of Heaven, the local people gather to play cards and dominos. There were ladies crocheting and knitting, making things to sell.
Next stop… the Chinese Medicine Place…
This was actually quite interesting. Our speaker told us facts about Chinese medicine and then the punch line… would you like our doctors to come in and give you a free examination? They can tell a lot about your health by only touching your hands and looking at your tongue and eyes. Well that sounds too good to be true… so we all said yes to see what it was all about. It was amazing how accurate they were.
Next stop was the KungFu Show. I knew the kids would like this one and I was not wrong. They loved it!!
No pictures allowed during the performance… so this is all for the Kung Fu Show.
Now the last stop of the day… Peking Duck Dinner! Forgot to take any pictures too. It was not as good as lunch, but pretty tasty!! The kids were not as impressed as they were with lunch either. Not sure if it was the food or the fact that every one of us was dog tired from a full day of running from place to place and walking miles and miles.
We got back to the hotel and everyone was ready for a nice shower and a soft bed. It is the end of another day down in China. We would hit it hard again tomorrow when the bus picks us up again at 8am sharp. So breakfast at 7… better fill up as you never know what the food might be for the rest of the day!!!
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