Beijing Day 2: Summer Palace, Pandas, and Peking Duck

Our second day in Beijing (Thursday) was rainy and colder, but that didn't stop us from packing it full of stuff to see. Our guide Chandler said it had not rained in Beijing for over 100 days, so this steady, light rain was much needed. We started our day with a trip to the Summer Palace, a summer residence of the imperial family (and an entourage of servants, of course) who spent the summer months here escaping the heat of the city. The Summer Palace and grounds sit on Kunming Lake and are remarkably sprawling... and remarkably beautiful. Much restoration was done to the ornate paint job in preparation for the Olympics, and the vibrancy of the colors were only enhanced by the overcast day. The water calligraphers were such an awesome sight here, working along on the stone walkways next to the lake. The way the water took to the dark, matte stone reminded me a bit of those "Zen Boards"...only cooler times a billion. It was really amazing. (And yes, I took about a million photos of it.)

After the Palace, Chandler took our group to the Beijing Zoo to see the giant panda exhibit. Ummmm, have I mentioned how much I love the giant panda? I mean, as far as adorable animals go, this guy takes the bamboo. There were 4 of them and they were so much fun to watch. We spent a while there trying to capture that perfect (i.e. in focus) picture...and I think you'll agree that the one of me with Mr. Panda #3 (below) is priceless. Tee hee.

After the zoo, Chandler returned us to our hotel. But we're not hang-at-the-hotel kind of folks, so our group headed out again down the street to the Drum Tower, where the drums were once sounded to mark the hours of the day. We climbed the very steep 69 steps to the top to take in a drum beating performance. I was amazed at the top to learn that our travelmates' adorable 5 year old climbed these steps herself, though each step was nearly half her height! She is an awesome kid; so go-with-the-flow and really enjoys being out and about seeing the sights with her parents and grandparents, who also came along on this trip.

After the harrowing descent from the Drum Tower, we made our way out to the street and caught a cab to Wangfujing Dajie and walked over to the Oriental Plaza, a very high-end shopping mall. (Yes, we went to Starbucks. Yes, I announced, "Hello baby, I'm back" upon view of the sign. And yes, I thoroughly enjoyed my venti mocha.) Afterward, we went to a music store and stocked up on a variety of children's music CDs and a few Chinese Pop CDs, chosen by way of "cool cover" and inquiry via charade about what music was playing overhead.

By this time, our travelmates' little girl was spent after a loooong day, so she, Grandma and Grandpa went back to the hotel while Jill, Thomas, Dan and I continued on down Wangfujing Dajie in search of children's clothing for the orphanage. We found a large kid store and had a great time picking out some outfits and learning the system for making purchases. (Each brand department is separate, so clerks write up purchase tags from each area and then you take all purchase tags to a central place to pay and then return to each separate department with a stamped receipt to pick up purchases. Did you catch all that?) As we were leaving, Lego Dan couldn't help but spot a Blocko set--very suspiciously Lego-like, I might add--that included Lego people..errr, Blocko people...that were Asian. So, another departmental transaction and we are now the proud owners of...Blockos. Dan couldn't be more pleased.

Just down the street we found the Wangfujing Snack Street, described in the guide book as a "jumble of atmosphere and flavor." And that it was. Cicadas, seahorses and scorpions on sticks for your eating (or in our case, viewing) pleasure. Well, with options like that who wouldn't work up an appetite, so we made our way to a Peking duck restaurant that Thomas and Jill remembered from their last trip to Beijing 4 years ago. Jill is amazing. She walked right to this obscurely-located restaurant without so much as a glance at a map. I have no idea what this restaurant was called, so I'm referring to it as The Duck Place. Clever, eh? (Oh, Dan is now telling me that The Duck Place is actually called Quanjude Roast Duck Restaurant. Exactly, The Duck Place.) The Peking duck was brought out whole and dissected table-side with such tremendous speed and precision. After a quick tutorial by the host about proper assembly technique with the thin pancakes, sauce and onions, Jill, Thomas and Dan were on their way to Peking duck heaven. Me, not so much a duck fan normally, but I tried it and have to say, it was FANTASTIC. I tried a mushroom and garlic dish that was delicious, too.

After dinner and an interesting time trying to get a taxi, we made our way back to the hotel around 10:30pm. Busy day! It is so much fun getting to know the people we are traveling with for this important journey--and we feel already as though we've known them a long time. Our daughters share a history--and now, so do we.

Today we're headed to the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square. Below are a few images from Thursday, February 12th: