Royalty = Luxury
Summer Palace – Beijing, China
Local Time: December 24, 2008 – 4:00PM
After lunch and a short visit to the infamous Chinese herbal medicine pharmacy that started it all thousands of years ago (visits to vendors such as this one is quite common on tours) was a trip to the Summer Palace. The Summer Palace was erected by one of the early emperors in China’s history as a home for the Empress and other Concubines to reside during the scorching summers. Surrounding the palace is a manmade lake. The downside to visiting this site during the winter is that the lake is somewhat frozen (parts of it is) so the usual boat tour the palace is closed down and only available during the warmer seasons.
The palace itself was gorgeous. Much like the Forbidden City, much detail went into every nook and cranny of this place. The breeze from the lake provides milder temperatures so the Empress and the Concubines would make the annual trip to the Summer Palace all those many years ago.
One thing I will say now about all of the touristy spots is to be careful when you buy things from the local vendors. Make sure to carry smaller change on you and check your money when change is provided to you. Many of these vendors will try to give you change from foreign currencies that are not worth as much as the Chinese yuan. It happened to Davy as he was trying to purchase some bird whistles from one of the ladies there. He thought he would be supporting the local community and ended up getting cheated. He didn’t lose much money (100 yuan ~ $15 US). She gave him Taiwanese currency as change. He ended up spending $15 on something that should have been worth $0.50. Bummer.
