Beijing -- Summer Palace

Yesterday we had a bit of free time before we left on the train, so Chris and I went back to the Muslim Quarter to see if we could find the mosque.  We did!  It was tucked away down some alleyways, but it was worth the search.  It was so serene and quiet.  It is like no other mosque I’ve seen (and I’ve seen quite a few!).  It is definitely Chinese, pagodas, dragons and all.  We walked by a room with a group of men praying (in Chinese) and sat in the garden to relax.  After the bustle of the city, it was wonderful.  After we left, we went down some back alleys and I found a couple of women knitting!  I took a picture, after asking permission, of course.  It is strange to see Chinese women wearing head scarves.
After leaving the train station, we headed off to the Summer Palace.  It was unbelievable.  An emperor from the Ming Dynasty created the Summer Palace as a present to his mother for her 70th birthday.  There was a lake there, but it was dredged up to make it bigger and in the shape of a peach – meaning long life.  The park is beautiful, and the lake is amazing.  You can walk along one bank under a long painted corridor – the longest painted corridor in the world, according to the Guiness Book – and it is lovely.  At the end we caught a ferry to the other coast.  The lake was full of boats, canoes and paddle boats – everyone was out to enjoy the good weather.  We crossed over the 17 arches bridge.  It is made of marble with small lions on each post.  It was time then to board the bus to the hotel.  We were all sticky, smelly and tired, so Chris and I took showers and relaxed.  Some of the others on the tour got massages in the room, which they said were fantastic, so I may try that before I go home!  We went to dinner at a local place and the food was, as always, fantastic.  The group then left for the Kung Fu show;  Chris and I passed on that.  We spent the next few hours drinking with Langer, telling jokes and having a wonderful time.  Chris and I took a little walk when we returned to the hotel, met some local kids and ended up watching some women dancing with fans on the sidewalk accompanied by a couple of guys banging on drums.  It was great.  We got back to the hotel just in time to meet up with the others and toddled off to bed.
Photos:
http://public.fotki.com/mjlang4952/summer-palace/