Emerging China - IV. SUMMER PALACE

Day 5 Summer Palace

We left our luggage in the hotel ready to depart on that evening to Shanghai, then we took the metro to Summer Palace which is a little bit isolated but worth to go!

Maybe it was due to the hot weather or the early hour in the morning but this was the attraction in which we found more queues to enter. This huge park was the garden in which the emperors went to scape from the boiling city.

Once inside, we took an alternative path to get away of the crowd and, while going up to the hill through the forest, we came into a group of elder Chinese practising tai chi. Once again, sitting there staring at them was amazingly relaxing.

Some say that the views of Beijing from the top of the hill are priceless, but it's also true that in that city there are many days of poor visibility, and that was one of those days. In any case, we could enjoy the magic gardens with rivers, nenufars, pavilions, bridges and the lake. There was a corridor similar to the one we saw in Temple of Heaven from which you could see the whole lake of Kunming, the boats where so authentic, and the whole scenario too.

Back in Beijing, we picked up the luggage in our hotel and before taking the Airport Express train (that casually stops in Dongzhimen too) we had lunch in a Vegetarian Restaurant called Nei Fu Dishes Wuyutai, clean, cost efficient and kind of luxurious. One of the particularities of China is that you can find a Hutong at a 10 meters distance of a business center skyscraper. Related to this, we found this restaurant at 5min walking distance to our hotel, and we could even order the plates in an iPad. The problem was not knowing the dimensions of the dishes... and it was useless trying to ask in English, so at the end we got a table full of a delicious meal that ended up to be also our dinner (you can ask to bring with you the remaining food, they'll put it in a take away plastic box, easy and practical!).

Finally, we travelled from Beijing to Shanghai. (Take into account that the majority of internal flights in China are delayed, ours departed 45min after the scheduled hour; the other option is the high speed train, that it's said to be reliable and so modern.)

Emerging China - III. BEIJING'S TOP TEMPLES

Day 4 Most Famous Temples in Beijing

We did not have breakfast included in the hotel, and on this day we woke up with so much need of a coffee, so on our way walking to the Lamas Temple we were lucky to find a Starbucks (it is a pleasure to eat occidental food for once), seating there in the terrace we could stare at the business people entering a tower next to the temple; in that moment I first saw how stylish Chinese women can be. They are particularly elegant, wearing plain soft structured clothes as if they had bought all those looks in COS.

The Lamas Temple was inspiring, relaxing. It was my first time in a buddhist temple. We saw many locals praying, old and young, performing a kind of prayer holding incense sticks. This, together with the giant Buddhas and colourful interiors, contributed to provide us a whole peaceful experience.

Our following stop was Temple of Heaven, a Chinese holly place located in a huge garden in south-east center of Beijing. The corridors with decorated roofs were infinite and gave us shadow in a burning day. We could sit there with the green garden behind us, staring at the elder locals gambling with cards. The main pavilion of the Temple is on the top of a hill from which you can enjoy the nice views of the city. Remember that you'll have to pay twice to enter the proper temple.

That evening we decided to walk direction to Sanlitun (area known for its active nightlife) but the rain caught us and we aborted the plan halfway.

On our way to Lamas Temple we got lost intentionally through a Hutong

Temple of Heaven

Dongzhimen District