Summer Palace and Silk Market
Got up disgustingly early once again to visit the Summer Palace.
Emma had to go deal with her Russian visa, so she was unable to make it. Jason and Rob had to stop by the bank, so they planned to meet us later. The American boys wanted to sleep in. Therefore, our group was down to Margaret, Gerald, Ruth, David, Fiona and I.
We took a subway a few stops over and then set about finding a bus. The Lonely Planet had listed a bunch of busses that we were supposed to be able to catch from the subway station, but the Lonely Planet failed to tell us how to find the bus stops. We wandered around, reading signs on poles and scanning each passing bus until we finally discovered a bus stop that looked promising. After waiting a good ten or fifteen minutes, the bus finally showed up. It also failed to stop at the right spot, so we had to dash for it.
The bus was quite full of both tourists and regular commuters. It took close to an hour to make it to the Palace, but it dropped us off at the North Gate. I noted, with much excitement, the location of the Summer Palace McDonald’s, located directly across from the North Gate. Nice to see that the Golden Arches follows one everywhere.
Although slightly expensive to enter, the Summer Palace was stunning. The Lonely Planet had said it would be easy to spend a day there - I agree wholeheartedly. We bought the through ticket so that we could see everything. You walk into the grounds, and you’re immediately struck by how clean and green everything is. The benefit of entering the North Gate is that you have to climb up this hill that is full of temples and shrines, and from there you make your way down into the more functional and decadent parts. It was a nice way to do it.
The Summer Palace was basically the playground for the Chinese royal family before the Republic. Empress Dowager Cixi, a former concubine who rose through the ranks due to her beauty and scheming, actually took all of the funds that were meant for the navy and diverted it into the expansion of the Summer Palace. In a nice bit of tribute to the navy, she also built a marble boat that serves as a wharf near the jetty where the royal boat would arrive. Historians say that the main reason for the entry of the Western Powers is because of the state of the military due to the fact it was so underfunded.
After wandering we discovered a place that was serving a 15yuan lunch. Rice, vegetables, chicken bits and then a drumstick for the equivalent of about $2.25 Cdn. They served a ton of the lunches and sold out after about fifteen minutes. We sat down outside the lunch hall on a bench to chill out, get out of the sun and consume what we could.
While sitting, we encountered the usual bottle people collecting our plastic bottles. Interestingly, and sadly, there were also people who were evidently peasants that would grab what they could in terms of food from people who stood up, or who went to throw their scraps away. I spotted one guy eating the scraps - I have no idea how they could have gotten into the grounds, but due to the mammoth size of the park they easily could have come in through a back door or something. I left my drumstick uneaten and untouched - it’s hard to have an appetite when you see people looking for the food scraps. They would get the trays, head off into the bushes or shrubbery and then reemerge after about five minutes with empty trays that they then threw out.
The Palace is built on the shores of Lake Kunming, a man made lake. The Palace grounds used to encompass the entire Lake and the surrounding lands, therefore most of the residential buildings are located along the shore. This also means that the shoreline area was insanely packed. The standard Chinese tour groups made their appearance, unsurprisingly, umbrellas and flags high above the ground. I also didn’t pose for any pictures until we made it down to the more densely populated area.
As we were leaving the Summer Palace we discovered a small Beijing 2008 store - I picked up a hat while Fiona went nuts, purchasing t-shirts and golf shirts for just about everyone at home. Fortunately we didn’t have to carry our bags too far - as soon as we exited the gates we were surrounded by two or three people asking us if we wanted to take a minibus back. Gerald negotiated a bit, so we ended up paying 20 yuan each (about $3) to take the minibus instead of finding the bus stop, taking the bus, walking to the subway, taking the subway and then walking back to the hotel. We were delivered almost to the front door (some vehicles can’t go down near our hotel unless they have a special permit - we’re near lots of very important Communist buildings) and in about a third of the time.
There was enough time for a quick shower and some relaxation before heading to the Silk Market. George led us there via subway, and then gave us a quick rundown of prices and the absolute max to spend on any item. Unfortunately the market has now moved inside - I had been hoping that it was still located outside, because apparently it had more character then.
I went with Gerald and Margaret and received a lesson in bargaining. I thought I was good - but Gerald was an expert. Cashmere vest? 200 yuan. 4 GB microvault from Sony? 200 yuan. Silk scarf that started at 1250? 100 yuan. So on and so on. We only had two hours, which wasn’t enough time - my main purchse consisted of a 2GB and a 4GB Sony microdrive - at home these things retail for hundreds of dollars.
Made our way back to Wangfujing for supper. It’s a trendy area near Tiananmen. It’s also where the Beijing Hotel is - in the 1989 Massacre, the famous photo of the man standing in front of the tank was taken on the avenue directly in front of the Beijing Hotel. If you look at the photo you can see the lightposts - I was surprised to note that the same style of street lamps were still there, and still all over Beijing. I figured they would have updated, because they’re kind of tacky.
Tomorrow? GREAT WALL!
