Summer Lovin'

It's bad, isn't it? But I'm a bit over China already. After doing the Wall, the Square and the Forbidden City there's really little to do in Beijing. Apart from freeze. Which we're doing well I might add. Anyway, as we're stuck here waiting for our Vietnamese visas we need to make the most of it, so we jumped on a little local bus (Ni hao!) and took an hour journey to visit the Summer Palace.

I was convinced it was going to be snoring and look exactly the same as the Forbidden City. But I was so wrong. It was spectacular (Duncan's new favourite word). So as I understand, the Summer Palace was a place that was built outside of Beijing for the rich and royal folk to hang out in when the heat got too much in the summer. It's a park, basically, full of beautiful temples and caves and gardens and winding steps and paths and Budhas and a massive, massive lake. And it's exactly how you imagine China to be. Really oriental and charming and pretty.

Of course, we weren't exactly escaping the hot, hot heat of the summer so we'd timed it to get there for sunset which, over the frozen lake was pretty erm, spectacular. I loved it. And it totally restored my faith in China. Well done China.