Beijing, China
July 7th continued

After lunch we went to see the Olympic Village. I guess I should first talk a bit about the food and lodging. For anyone worried that I am roughing it here, do not. The food has been excellent, all Chinese style which varies by region. We are staying at some freakishly nice places. The two hotels thus far have been four and five star places. So despite some hot days and lots of walking we are treated vary nice. In fact we have a baggage service to transport our main luggage to and fro so that all we really have to carry is a backpack. The two most famous and impressive venues are the Olympic Stadium or Bird’s Nest and the Aquatics center, the Water Cube. Both are impressive but the Water Cube got more of my attention. It was built with no pillars and the structure gets it form from the “water cells”. The whole Olympic Village is a massive work center. The Bird’s Nest was only finished two weeks ago.

The Bird's Nest
The Water Cube

After seeing all of that, the group went to visit the Emperor’s Summer Palace. It is actually larger in square acres than the Forbidden City but most of it is a lake. The whole grounds are quite lush. There are trees and flowers everywhere. Which is stark contrast to the treeless Forbidden City, due to the fact that the Emperors literally did not want anyplace for attackers to hide behind. After strolling through the gardens amongst the flowers and trees we took a cruise in a dragon’s ship around the lake. It was great to be on the water, sitting, and getting a seaside view of the Summer Palace. One of the more ridiculous things we saw was the marble ship that the Dowager Empress Cixi commissioned to have built. The money was supposed to go to build a navy so that China could defend itself, whoops.

Lilly pond near the lake at the Summer Palace.

Another view of the lake and "part" of the Palace Grounds

After the Summer Palace but before dinner we went to Longtan Park, or Dragon Park in Beijing. Longtan Park is a public park which has walking paths, several playgrounds, and a lake. The park was relaxing and beautiful. We walked around for a while and generally watched people, many of whom watched us. They were preparing for a dragon festival which comes from an old folk custom that commemorates the fifth day of the fifth month of the lunar calendar. Numbers such as nine and five play such a huge role in the cultural psyche of the Chinese people. I got to watch this older couple either play this game or do a dance, maybe both at the same time. Here is link to the video of it. It looks like table tennis meets tai chi.

At the end of the night we went to our very swanky hotel the Plaza Royale Hotel for a sorely needed shower and much needed sleep.