There is so much to see in Beijing. Yesterday the Forbidden City, today we visited the Summer Palace, where the Emperor used to live from April until the weather turned cold. It’s bigger and I found it more striking than the Forbidden City. Actually, it is a lot bigger, covering an expanse of 2.9 square kilometres of gardens, palace buildings and lakes. The Summer Palace is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.




Not only was it a day of enjoying beautiful, it was also fun. It took us a bit of humiliation to figure out how to operate the single control on the paddle boats, but we sure had a few good laughs. It probably would have been easier if we could have read the instructions, but none of us read the Chinese characters.


Kim
OMG I LOVE the dragon Boat, I’d love to have a full pic of the whole boat
Rhonda
It’s pretty cool, isn’t it.
Heidi19
What a gorgeous photos! China is really a great place having a tour. Because of the rich culture that they had. And there’s a lot of beautiful places that you can visit and one of this is the Beijingβs Summer Palace. Thanks for sharing this to us and i’m looking forward on your next post.
Rhonda
Thanks Heidi. And you are right, so many beautiful places in China.
Rhonda
I can’t believe it never even occurred to us to walk onto the bridge. LOL- how silly of us. Sorry to say this link doesn’t work either π
Lynne
I’m guessing flickr is blocked in the PRC as well
Anna
Wow! I wish I could have the chance to take a trip on a dragon boat like that! It must have been such a great experience!
Rhonda
It was pretty cool. Our guide, Alex, suggested it. Having the guide really added a lot of fun for us
Tony Payne
Looks like this was a really fun day, I am envious.
Rhonda
It was fun, but I am sure we will have fun when we come and hang out with you as well. (Just no dragons)
Stefanie
OMG-the pic of Melissa in the paddle boat could be you at the same age, Rhonda! I mean identical twins. I’ve always said she looks like you, but now she REALLY looks like your Stepford baby
Rhonda
So I read your comment to my daughter and before I could even finish she said, “eeww.”
Laura
Aw, I bet you had great time! You and your awesome travels, you are making me jelaous! π
Rhonda
Glad you can follow along π
Barbara Radisavljevic
Rhonda, although I don’t get over to comment much, I want you to know how I look forward to getting my email version of your adventures and seeing your pictures every day. I was especially waiting for it as a distraction from doing the taxes today.
I never get the email version until an hour or two after I see in Chatterbox that you have posted. Then I wait impatiently for the email. I hope you’re writing a longer version to share with us in lenses when you get back home. This is one field trip the girls would never had gotten to take if they were in a normal school. I’m sure they will look back on this as a highlight in their lives — except for the squat toilets.
Barb
Rhonda
Thanks Barb, this comment really means a lot to me. Sometimes when I don’t see very many comments I wonder if anyone is out there reading. Either way it is a great journal for me.
Joyce
You’re having too much fun. Kudos to you!
Rhonda
Not too much, just the right amount π
Seriously, it’s not all fun, but unless the little problems are actually funny, you won’t hear about them here.