Beijing Day 2

Today we took a Hutong Tour thru old Beijing in a rickshaw. The Hutongs are old houses that were created during the Yuan, Ming, & Qing dynasties. They are basically courtyard houses that have 4 sections that were divided by a person’s importance in the family. It was fun to be part of the rickshaw traffic jam that happened at a few points.

We also ventured out to the Summer Palace which was much further than we thought. We were pleasantly surprised by this attraction and spent a couple of hours walking around looking at the beautiful lake. This palace was built by the royal family as a get away. It is situated on Kumming Lake & is beautiful. There is so much beautiful art work is incorporated into the walk ways & buildings. The whole place would take at least a day or more to see as it is 290 hectares.

Our whole group is now here & tomorrow is the first time we will all do something together. Only 3 more sleeps until we see Maddy.