Today we got to visit the Summer Palace. This was something we had been looking forward to since... well... the last time we were in China, really. Last time around in 2005, it was November/December when we visited the Summer Palace. So for one, the trees and bushes were bare and for another it was absolutely freezing and we really couldn't wait to get back on the bus. Of course, travelling in July this time, a very different proposition.
In terms of the weather, we have actually been surprised by the heat in Beijing. Sure, it doesnt have the strength-sapping humidity that Guangzhou does, but it is still very very hot here - today I think the temperature was 35 degrees.
Needless to say, the views of the Summer Palace were just beautiful and we snapped our fair share of pictures. After the Summer Palace we visited the pearl factory - something we remembered quite well from last time and the routine has not really changed, although we took the opportunity to a buy a few gifts at reasonable prices. From there we visited the silk market. We had heard about this before but we didn't get there last time - presumably just didn't have the time. So, we got to learn a little bit about the silk trade in China, and got to try our hand at stretching a piece of silk out to make into a sheet - which of course went predictably poorly.
After leaving the silk factory, we were dropped off at the pearl market for a couple of hours. This is another one of those high pressure "barter for your life" type of situations. Last time we had visited the silk market but missed the pearl market. Interestingly, while some of the "first time" folks seemed a bit overwhelmed, we actually found the sales pitch a bit more laid back than we had encountered at the silk market.
On the way from A to B somewhere we passed by the birds nest stadium and the water cube - famous from last summer's olympic games. We snapped a handful of pics but from the highway they didn't turn out great - will have to see if we can improve on that.
Tomorrow we have pretty much a free day, so not sure yet how we will spend it. It will be our last full day in China... boy, the time has flown by!
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