Last stop: Beijing

After Luoyang and Kaifeng, we returned to Beijing, the place we first landed. We stayed in Beijing for a couple of days before returning home. As it turned out, luck was with us and we had two beautiful days -- remember this was in 2009, just one year after the Summer Olympics, when the Chinese government mandated cleaning up the air pollution in and around Beijing. It would not be this nice again 5 years later.

(Click on each image to see the high-resolution version)

As in 2014, we went to Shi Cha Hai (什刹海), my favorite place in town. A picture of Yin Ding Qiao (Bridge of Silver Ingot; Chinese: 银锭桥) has to be served, as well as a few of Hou Hai (Rear Sea; Chinese: 后海).


Yin Ding Qiao (银锭桥)


Hou Hai (后海)


Hou Hai (后海)


Hou Hai (后海)

A taxi ride took us to the Summer Palace (颐和园). One of the most well known structure is the marble boat -- as its name implies, it's built of marble, but it is a boat that does not float (it sits on the lake bottom).


Marble Boat

Climbing up the Longevity Hill (万寿山), we reached a Buddist Tower.


Buddhist Tower in the Summer Palace


Buddhist Tower in the Summer Palace

There were many carvings on the side of the tower, depicting Buddha and other Buddhist deities.


Buddhist Carving


Buddhist Carving

The buildings in the Summer Palace are of the orange-golden color, manifesting their royal status.


Summer Palace

At the top of Longevity Hill, looking down on Kunming Lake (昆明湖) and beyond, on this clear day, the view was breathtaking.


View of Kunming Lake from Longevity Hill

At the top of Longevity Hill is the Tower of Buddhist Essence (佛香阁), where a statue of the many-handed Guanyin Bodhisattva is worshiped.


Guanyin Bodhisattva statue

A section of the Summer Palace is a replica of a southern China river town called Suzhou Street (苏州街). This was built for the emperor who liked the southern lifestyle and wanted to transport it to Beijing (the original replica was destroyed by the British and French armies in the Second Opium War; the one in place now was built in the 1980s).


Suzhou Street


Suzhou Street

We managed to take a day trip to the Great Wall at Simatai (司马台长城). It was a hot day, but with blue sky and puffy white clouds, we had nothing to complain about.


Great Wall


Great Wall


Great Wall


Great Wall


Great Wall


Great Wall


Great Wall


Great Wall

On the way back to the city, we made a stop at the "Bird's Nest" and Water Cube buildings which were used for the 2008 Summer Olympics to round up this trip.


Bird's Nest (Beijing National Stadium)


Water Cube (Beijing National Aquatics Center)

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