We finally got adjusted to the time change & made it out in time to take in a couple of sights in Beijing. Over the weekend we've had many of great adventures. We hit the streets yesterday in true Chinese style - riding bicycles. All roads have dedicated bike lanes which is great, however the taxis, buses and motorized scooters & buggies (going both directions without a clear rule as to which side to keep to) that share the lane keep things about the same as riding on the road at home. The ride in the near smogshine (extent of sunshine here) was nice, however the concentration needed to avoid collision is exhausting! Our destination was a nice park (Yuyuantan Park) where we strolled through gardens, took a paddle boat out on one of the small lakes and watched the sun set into smog (see pictures). When we arrived back at the hotel we decided to relax over a nice duck dinner in the courtyard, very tasty and understandable why it is a local specialty. Peking duck; I recommend it!
Today we returned to the park, this time to take a boat ride to the Summer Palace, where the emperors went to get away from the heat of the city. The palace and park was beautiful but due to smog & rain we weren't able to see many of the views. We visited a Buddhist temple high up on the palace hill where during an attack by the Anglo-French in the 1860's when the palace was pillaged & burned, many of the Buddha’s heads were cut off. Most of the palace was restored so its beauty can still be enjoyed however some Buddha’s still are without heads. We made our way home through the pouring rain and are now hiding out at the hotel for the rest of the evening to dry out our soggy feet! Tomorrow, we're off to the Great wall, I hope the rain stops... :)
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