23.05.2011 – 23.05.2011  30 °C

Started up a bit later this morning as I was really tired from the previous day’s travels.

Plan for today was to get out and see some of the museums of Beijing.. Great plan that was not achievable.. All of the museums in Beijing are closed on Monday’s!! Plan A gone had to go to Plan B.. Plan B was either Beijing Zoo or return to the FC and try and have a good look at the place.

Decided that I can see a zoo anywhere so decided to return to the FC to have a better look.

This time around the FC was no where near as crowded (although by our standards was still pretty packed!) and was able to enjoy the park a lot more. The main pavilians (where the emperor held court) are quite large and you can almost imagine the grandeur of the palace 100+ years ago. Sadly many of the pavilians are showing signs of wear and are need of a very good clean and paint.

The palace itself probably covers 10 city blocks so is really large to get around. Walking from one end to the other takes a good couple of hours and luckily I had bought a headset this time so got some more of the background of the palace. The imperial gardens are really nice and the old cyprus trees and rock formations are just amazing.

All in all the palace is one big building and lots of marble stone. Awe inspiring just from a size point of view but the summer palace is definately more beautiful and picturesque.

Met with my tour group this evening and went out for dinner. Kate is my roomy and she is from NZ. Group’s demographic is half mid 50s and half mid 20s so unusual group! Everyone seems like good value so I’m sure we’ll have a great time.