The Summer Palace
I: Walking around the lake

    The four of us (Jinghua, Guoshun, Kelly, and I) visited the Summer Palace, on the northwestern outskirts of Beijing, one Sunday. It was warm and muggy, and the air was heavy with haze. We walked practically the whole thing, and had a great time. Enjoy these pictures!

Here is the dragon that greeted us as we entered. Kelly later bought one just like it, although considerably smaller, for her apartment.

The palace's grounds are dominated by Kunming Lake, where residents and tourists come to paddle little boats and ride in larger ones. Here is a little pavilion where people can relax near the lake and enjoy some shade.

A closer view of the lake and the long walkway along its shore. The sequence of pictures goes roughly along this walk and clockwise around most of the lake.

Kunming Lake, with a distant pagoda in the background. The boats are propelled by paddle-power. If the water looks green to you, that's because it really is. Almost all enclosed bodies of water that we saw in China were green. Most of them contained fish, though.

Two temples on the south shore of the lake. After circling the lake, we climbed the hill, viewed these temples, and descended on the other side.

When is the next dragon boat? Looks like fun, but we walked instead.

Touching this cow is supposed to bring you good luck. Trouble is, it's too far to reach without falling over the fence. So our good luck will have to wait until next time. The little shops in the background provide everything possible for the tired, hungry, and thirsty visitor.

The 17-arched bridge to South Lake Island in the background. As seen in the next two photos, it's a great place to take pictures.

Kelly and Ken on the 17-arched bridge, with the temples in the background.

A closer view of Kelly and one of the lions. (Or was it dogs?) Whatever they were, she liked them all, as did the rest of us, too. They are all a little different.

At the far end of the lake is this steep bridge, on which everything comes in 24's. From the top, we could see into the water and watch the fish.

The path back the other side of the lake uses a narrow walkway that connects a series of little islands to form a shortcut through the lake. This is a scene on one of the islands.

Ahead to Summer Palace Part II
Ahead to Summer Palace Part III
Back to Beijing