Yesterday we took the day off - Mr Chang, our sweet neighbor taxied us into the beautiful Purple Bamboo Park where we took a canal boat to the Summer Palace, there we met two artist friends who live downtown.
a serene and imperial way to enter the Summer Palace, took about 30 minutes by boat
This is the tower of the Fragrance of the Buddha on Longevity Hill
we strolled along the path next to the lake and then studied the Marble Boat (or Clear and Peaceful Boat as they call it)
Built in 1755
The saying goes "Water can carry a boat but can also capsize a boat" this boat was built to mean that the Qing Dynasty would be as solid as rock and never fall, hull made of massive stones
walking through entryways, archways and palatial buildings gave you a sense of what the
scene was here so long ago. The Palace was built by Emperor Quinlong to celebrate his
mother's birthday! The lake covers 3/4 of the Palace, what a sight
A Hutong, or alleyway on Tea Street
Shellaine, Ken, Mike and I then took a taxi to Tea Street, the
whole entire street is dedicated to teas and tearooms. We stopped in
several of them and sampled teas, what fun to be served and
watch the tea being transformed, I have always wanted to experience this process
This is all dried tea, its an art form, amazing variations, packagings of tea, it
is suppose to last forever, what kind do you want me to bring back?
Topping the day off we all ate dinner at a fabulous Yunnan restaurant called '8' we had kung pao eggplant, assorted marinated bamboo shoots,a dynamite mushroom dish, a medicinal herbal soup, all
totally delicious, want to go back!
Back to work today!
No comments:
Post a Comment