The Summer Palace

After our trip to the Great Wall, Mr. Li escorted us to The Summer Palace, a “must see” for anyone visiting Beijing, according to him. It was beautiful. And expansive. Building upon building upon building, all built around a marvelous lake. We began walking around the lake, but quickly realized we wouldn’t be able to circumvent the entire body of water in the four hours we had allotted for the palace. We crossed the 17 Arch Bridge, so named because of the 17 arches that gracefully led us from the mainland to a small island in the center of the lake.

The Summer Palace was ordered built by Empress Dowager Cixi, who, from all descriptions, seemed like a woman who did whatever the hell she wanted. The funds for the Summer Palace were originally earmarked for the Chinese navy. She felt a palace for herself was more important. As a concession, however, she did build a stone boat, never navigable, and placed it as a monument to the navy at her grand palace. Also at the palace was a residence built especially for the Emperor, a nice gesture, I suppose, except that she banished him there under house arrest for long periods at a time. When Mom and I visited the Forbidden City/Imperial Palace, we learned that our gal Cixi also drowned the concubine of the Emperor who preceded her. To look at her photos, she didn’t seem evil, but I sure wouldn’t want to cross her.

As we walked through the grounds of The Summer Palace, beauty surrounded us. The majestic lake, the weeping willows lining the shore, boughs gracefully swaying in the light breeze; the buildings themselves, the faded blues, greens, and deep reds of the structures; the granite dragons, perched on larger than life pearls, ready to defend their territory from any of the evil spirits lurking. Even though it was incredibly crowded on this Sunday afternoon, there wasn’t the animosity that often permeates large crowds trying to see the same thing at the same time. Families strolled through the complex, stooped grandmothers, ambling slowly along, young mothers holding babies with bottomless pants, couples, posing for self timed photos along the lakeside. Everyone smiling, enjoying the cool breezes the lake provided on this sweltering day.