It was a rainy day!
We went out and did a little touring despite the weather. We can’t complain much, one day of rain isn’t
too bad. It did cut our touring
short. Brayden started to show signs of
an allergic reaction (he does this when he is cold), so we decided to forget
the zoo. We have been to lots of zoos
and will most likely get to visit the Guangzhou Zoo next week. We did see the Summer Palace, learned lots of history, and
rode on a dragon boat!
The Summer Palace
was built by the Yuan Dynasty about 800 years ago. It was originally called the Golden Water or
Golden Palace. The Ming Dynasty changed
the name to the Summer Palace. They had
built the Forbidden City and spent the summers in the Palace. They constructed a huge lake around the
Palace. During this construction a large
amount of soil was unearthed, they used this to build a hill for the
temple. Legend says that as they were digging
a larger lake, they uncovered a coffin that said “leave me undisturbed and I
won’t disturb you”. So, the emperor
covered it up with the soil and made a temple on the top.  |
| This is a Kylin, which protects the Palace from evil spirits. |
 | |
| As you can see, Kaitlyn is having a little trouble with the adult sized poncho! :) The kiddos are next to the dragon and phoenix. These are to protect the living quarters. The dragon should have been in the foreground, but the Dragon Lady thought the phoenix (representing her) should be in the front of the dragon (representing the emperor). |
The Dragon Lady spent summers in the
Palace. She is not liked at all, they
believe she is very corrupt. There was a big rock in the middle of the Dragon Lady’s
courtyard. It was found 800
meters from Beijing. A rich man loved
the rock and wanted to bring it to Beijing.
He hired men to freeze water on the road and push it on the ice down the
road. Halfway to Beijing, he ran out of
money and had to leave it on the side of the road. The emperor wandered by it many years
later. He ordered peasants and prisoners
to haul it to the Summer Palace. When
they reached the Palace, they had to tear down a wall in order to get the rock
into the center. Because so many had to
work and this was unneeded expense, this is called the Bad Luck rock.
We then walked around and continued to look at the gorgeous
views. It would have been even better if
it wasn’t raining. We did get to ride on
a dragon boat. Again, beautiful views,
but not clear due to the rain.
 |
| Marble model of a dragon boat |
 |
| This is the boat we rode in |
During our travels, we learned more about daily life. The traffic was pretty bad today. You can drive here once you turn 18 (and pass
a written and driving test). Many people
have cars, but it is very difficult to get a license plate. You can rent a license plate for $8000 RMB ($1400 US) /
year. There are different companies to
rent this through. They are color coded:
blue for commoners, yellow for special vehicles (governmental or tourist
transportation), and white for military or police. Due to the high number of vehicles, people
are only allowed to drive at certain times.
The last number of your license plate determines which days you can
drive (Monday: 1 and 6, Tuesday: 2 and 7, Wednesday: 3 and 8, Thursday: 4 and 9,
Friday: 5 and 0, Weekends: everyone).
We came back to the hotel room to warm up and dry off. We ate granola bars and hope that the rain
will end soon so that we can go get some dinner.
TOMORROW IS GREYSON DAY!!!!
We will leave the hotel to get him at 7:00 am!! (That is your Sunday evening!) We will go to his orphanage to pick him
up! Can’t wait to hug my son!!
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