The Summer Palace

The summer palace was a beatiful place for the empress to spend her time with the service of eunichs. The lake is huge, and man made. The temple was for worship, and the long pathway of 768 meters was created so that the empress could be carried by the eunichs in the shade while they entertained her by telling stories. At the end of the pathway was a boat created entirely from marble. It was warmer here, peaceful, and very nice.

The lake was entirely frozen over. There were many families playing on the ice. William was not interested in falling through and declared simply that he cannot swim. I don't think swimming matters when it was this cold. It didn't matter. We've both been on frozen lakes before.

The left side, the right side, and the cross beam all had paintings. The paintings did not repeat, so you can imagine how many there were over 768 meters. Each painting represented a story in their oral traditions. A few pictures of the paints are below.

Looking out from the pathway, you could look at the lake, and be cooled by the breeze during the hot summer months.

The temple for worship. Again, the entire place was for the empress and the eunichs. In fact, one eunich would travel daily from the Forbidden City to here to fetch water that the emperor believed would give him eternal life.

The marble boat given as a gift. I don't think it floats since it is solid rock.

In the summer there are many boats to spend time on the water.

Some kids ice skating. It was a pretty way to spend the afternoon and very relaxing. The temperature was more enjoyable. I was picturing something like the forbidden city, more buildings and such. This was better since it was more like a park.