Gagoh Travels the World: Beijing Continued...

I most likely have my days mixed up... so I'm just going to lump the different locations in groups. Yeah, it did become a blur... we saw so many temples and gardens that it was hard to remember which was which... the only saving grace? my pictures are in chronological order... 😎

Summer Palace, and Imperial Garden...

a tidbit from the internet:

The Summer Palace was initially built in 1750 by Emperor Qianglong. The architectural style of Summer Palace is to make others believe it is inartificial. It covers an area of 70 thousand square meters and holds over 3000 houses. In 1860 and 1900 it was destroyed by invaders and in 1912 it was rebuilt by the Government of Qing Dynasty. In 1924, it began to be open to tourists.

The Summer Palace is one of the loveliest spots in Beijing. Not all the buildings are open to the public, but many are, and the others continue to enhance the park with their design and decoration, nestled into the landscape.

Entrance with with's statue - Copper Lion

Limestone pieces transported from another place, is used as decoration.

we had lots and lots of people joining us for this garden

Pagoda across the lake

man-made lake

couldn't resist taking a picture of the sun through the willow branches.

Tiananmen Square

The square was huge... there was a huge basket of flowers in the center... put there for the national holiday. There were so many people... soldiers marching in groups of 12 (I couldn't take their picture). We Americans were quite a sight for the Chinese... they would take our picture without our knowledge, and request a group picture with family or the children. They did a lot of giggling during this time...

a tidbit from the internet:

Tian'anmen Square is the largest famous world square, eclipsing Delhi's India Gate Complex and Warsaw's Parade Square, on its expansion in 1959. It fulfilled Mao's vision of being the largest square in the world for 17 years, until 1976, the year Mao died.

ok, two pictures taken here... the guy using my camera didn't know about either changing the zoom or stepping back... we thought these headbands were so darn cute. ok, so the joke was on us since the concubines used to wear them... oh well... the guy in the middle is, Brian, our tour guide. Brian is his American name.. Because he loves the music of Brian Adams.

silliness... (we had lots of chinese taking our picture at this time as well.

We had also visited the forbidden City, which was across the street from the square. It was a hot day.. and it was like the Forbidden City never ended...

Forbidden City

tidbit from the internet:

The Forbidden City, situated in the very heart of Beijing, was home to 24 emperors of the Ming (1368–1644) and Qing (1644–1911) Dynasties.

The construction of the grand palace started in the fourth year of Emperor Yongle of the Ming Dynasty (1406), and ended in 1420.

In ancient times, the emperor was said to be a son of Heaven, and therefore Heaven’s supreme power was bestowed upon him. The emperors’ residence on earth was built as a replica of the Purple Palace where God was thought to live in Heaven.

I got this image from the internet so you can see a close up of the peak. see note below

info from the internet regarding the peaks of the buildings:

The roof ridges often have clay figures of deities and animals including dragons and a man riding a hen; these brought luck to the house and its occupants. The more prestigious the house the more creatures there are on the roof ridge. More than one legend that tries to explain the end figure, the man riding on a hen ➚; it probably symbolizes 'impossibility' as a man can't ride a hen, and a hen can't fly; so the figure is therefore doubly rooted there and protects the roof and house. Alternatively it may commemorate the tale of Prince Min of Qi ➚, a cruel tyrant tied to the end of the roof 2,200 years ago. Other figures may include the chīwěn 螭吻 hornless dragon on the ridge protecting the building against fire (as dragons control water), phoenixes, qilin and other mythical beasts may feature as well. In the Ming dynasty there was a standard ordering of the protective animals: hen; dragon; phoenix; lion; unicorn; horse and qilin. High status houses have decorated finials at the end of each row of roof tiles as well as a pair of dragons on the ridge of the roof.