The Summer Palace, Beijing.

This next sequence of photos were taken last weekend from the Summer Palace, in the North End of Beijing. It is without a doubt one of the most beautiful places in China. As usual it is impressive in its total size.
I am at a loss as to where to even begin describing the scale of the project. It was mostly costructed during the Ming and Qing dynasties and was used by the royal court to escape the heat and humidity and winds of the Beijing summers. When the movement occured from the Forbidden City, it was quite the adventure and most of the royal court--the Emporer and all of his Concubines (more than 3,000 of them at the height of his decadence) would be moved by the eunich servants who would load them into their lavish caravans and carry them on their backs to the Palaces which they resided in, which took weeks.
I couldn't help but think what the Emporer and all of his people would think about it now if they saw all of these people touring their little summer getaway. (Not to mention what they must have felt when the British and the French invaded it and robbed it blind during colonization).



You will see a lot of temple dogs--as it is one of my many obsessions. This, is one such creation that you find in the forbidden city as well. It was really difficult to take a picture of it without a Chinese standing in front of it. Chinese people can not take a picture without being in it all the time. Its simply amazing, but I have never seen them simply take a picture to see whatever it is that they are looking at.