We
had a morning where we slept in “late” and got up at 8:00. Hooray!
Breakfast, again, was sumptuous!!!
It just keeps getting better and better.
This morning there were more choices than ever, as this is certainly the
largest hotel we’ve been in, yet. It’s
huge and very cosmopolitan. There are so
many different kinds of people; we saw a family that looked to be from India,
perhaps an Israeli family, along with a huge variety of Chinese and other
folk. Fashions are a lot more, well, in
fashion in Beijing, with many more people dressing more stylishly. Not so many women in ankle height stockings
with sandals (which is a killer, since some of them are so put together, but
then you look down at their feet, and there goes that fashion No, no).
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| Many Western choices - yay! |
As
we exited the hotel, we saw blue sky - - not to be taken for granted in
Beijing. It turned out that the high
winds which had resulted in our flight cancellation the day before also
resulted in the winds blowing the skies free of smog for the first time in
weeks. Super bonus! The smog had been making front-page news,
because it had lasted for so long, as it usually clears up in the summer. We had read about this in a newspaper on the
plane, and Lily commented on how people were taking advantage of the smog-free
weather. It was a gorgeous morning,
though already hot. The beautiful
weather had brought people out of the woodwork.
Our first destination was the Summer Palace, which was teeming with
people - - just PACKED with Chinese tourists. Like Disneyland packed. But we shuffled along with the throngs,
taking in the beauty of the Summer Palace, nonetheless. We walked a long way under the covered
walkway (longest covered corridor in the world, according to The Guiness Book
of World Records). Its ceiling was
covered with hundreds of unique and beautiful paintings. Despite the crush of humanity, it really was
a wonder to see.
The
Summer Palace was built for empresses to spend the summer months. There are lots of beautiful perks that were
included in its development over the years.
Many of the pathways that meander throughout the enormous compound (only
a fraction of which we saw) are covered with raised and rounded pebbles, set
into the pavement in lovely arrangements like flowers. Lilly told us that the empress (The Dragon
Lady) requested the pebbles to be raised so that her feet could be massaged as
she walked along. No detail was
neglected.
We
got a respite from trudging along with the crowd when we took a brief ride on a
beautiful dragon boat, which took us across the lake and back to the area where
we had entered the palace. Not only was
the boat ride lovely, we were also intrigued by the sumo-sized dumpling of a
baby which was placed bare-bottomed directly onto the same seats on which we were sitting. No pants, no shoes required!
The
Summer Palace was definitely a worthy visit, but we were glad to be out of the
heat and crowds, as we sat in the car heading to the National Stone
Palace. Lily, too, seemed to perk up a
bit, and she talked some. The
conversation meandered, but at one point she remarked (in terms of the
relationship between China and North Korea) that, “Chinese people think that
North Korea is like a dog, and that China is like its owner; but now, the dog
has gone crazy and is getting ready to bite the owner.” She also spoke of how
so many Japanese used to come to China for tourism and cheap shopping, but that
now, because of tensions over water and fishing rights, the Chinese don’t go to
Japan, nor do the Japanese come to China.
Things got so bad in terms of mutual hostilities in recent months, that
Japanese-made cars here in China were being vandalized, regardless of their
ownership. Now if a Chinese person still
drives a Japanese-made car, he or she might put a note in the car window when
they leave it parked somewhere, that the car is Japanese, but the owner is
Chinese and to please not bother the car. All so interesting!
As
we got closer to the National Stone Place (which is a small jade demonstration museum/factory along with a huge showroom) Lily told us a bit about jade – she wears a
jade bracelet herself, which is very common among women in China. The bangle is worn on the left wrist rather
than the right, so it is closer to the heart.
The higher quality jade changes color and becomes more translucent with
wear and, according to belief, absorbs impurities from the body. There is symbolism attached to the different
colors of jade.
Symbolism of Jade Colors:
green = longevity
white = purity
yellow = emperor’s color
red = lucky
pink = Lily didn’t know meaning, as
it’s not a common color for jade
purple = heavenly color
The
museum was quite small, which was fine, and it was interesting to learn about
the different quality levels of jade and how to tell real jade from
imitation. Great pride is taken in jade
here, and it is seen as a national stone.
We got to see how jade is carved and polished to create sculptures like
the “happy family” ball. This decorative
ball is usually four balls of jade or wood that have holes in them, one carved
inside the other. Their being carved one
inside the other prevents them from being taken apart, symbolizing the strength
and happiness of family. As with the
pearl museum, after the jade talk and demonstration area, the museum opened up
to a huge showroom where we did a lot of browsing and little shopping. Then, it was on to lunch and the Great Wall!!!
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| Right to left shows the progression of the "Happy Family" ball. Made from one sold block of jade. Pretty incredible! |
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