So where did the Chinese royal family stay during the summer heat? Why, at the almost equally big ” Summer Palace”!

:-0…. The Summer Palace lies a little north of Beijing on a hill so with a spectacular view of the city. The Summer Palace is green, lush, peaceful. A very nice place to spend a day strolling!

The Summer Palace had a fantastic theatre, really huge and colorful! Opera and plays were performed here to entertain the emperor and his guests.

Gorgeous color, fabrics and patterns (I love patterns!!)

Some temples are hidden on the hills and between the trees, the whole complex is very playfully set up and it almost feels like an adventure exploring it all!

There was a “garden of harmony”, which was a bueaaaatiful pond with thousands of golden fish, waterlilies, little gazebos and everything. I can understand they spent their summers there!

I think I liked the Summer Palace even more than the Forbidden City.. :-0 The weather was beautiful and it was such a nice day to stroll along these temples and discovering hidden stairs and hallways and caves and ponds and gates etc. The whole area covers about 3 km2, including a huge lake and park. There was no end to it!

Wow I really really loved this place. We spent the whole day there, and still we didn’t see everything.

Again, we have hundreds more photos of these beautiful places!! Wish I could show them all :-)

Ok, next post will be the last about China since we had one more day to explore the city. If I can fit all the amazing photos in one post that is…. Next up: China Trip Pt5: Beautiful Beijing!