Tuesday, February 05, 2008
The Chinese Acrobats
Before we head back to the States there was one other Chinese phenomenon we had to experience: the Chinese Acrobats. The feats of strength were pretty impressive, but I think we both enjoyed the Kung Fu more. Maybe it was the well-written plot . . .
Sunday, February 03, 2008
The Summer Palace
After our long day in Datong, we decided to take a leisurely day walking around the Summer Palace. We made ourselves a picnic and headed out.
The Summer Palace was a bit of a disappointment. Don't get me wrong, it was beautiful. But we felt a bit taken advantage of, after paying for a taxi and a relatively expensive entrance ticket, they expected us to pay an additional amount to get into the actual palace part of the Summer Palace. There were so many tourists, the only solitude we had was a short hike to an overview of the Palace.
We walked along the lake, down the long corridor and took off.
Our next destination was the Lama Temple. After having a disagreement with a taxi driver trying to take the "scenic route" back to the subway, we ran into a friendly local practicing his English. We told him where we were heading and what restaurant we were looking for, The Golden Tripod. He said that he knew where it was and that he liked it. When we got off the subway, he offered to walk us to the restaurant. Or so we thought. He walked us right to the Lama Temple. Then we spent about 5 minutes explaining that we were looking for the Golden Tripod to eat before we went to Lama Temple. We were starving! He tried to help us, but no one seemed to know where it was. We ended up eating at the first restaurant we could find. We decided to try the famous roasted duck, which was yummy if you ate it in the lettuce wraps with plum sauce, but a bit greasy on its own.
The Lama Temple was beautiful and, for us, much more enjoyable than the Summer Palace. This is a functioning temple, with real monks and people worshiping. It was a bit voyeuristic, but felt more authentic. One of my favorite photos was a picture of a young man in traditional dress taking photos with his cell phone. It was surreal. The cherry blossoms were out too . . . beautiful.
The Summer Palace was a bit of a disappointment. Don't get me wrong, it was beautiful. But we felt a bit taken advantage of, after paying for a taxi and a relatively expensive entrance ticket, they expected us to pay an additional amount to get into the actual palace part of the Summer Palace. There were so many tourists, the only solitude we had was a short hike to an overview of the Palace.
We walked along the lake, down the long corridor and took off.
Our next destination was the Lama Temple. After having a disagreement with a taxi driver trying to take the "scenic route" back to the subway, we ran into a friendly local practicing his English. We told him where we were heading and what restaurant we were looking for, The Golden Tripod. He said that he knew where it was and that he liked it. When we got off the subway, he offered to walk us to the restaurant. Or so we thought. He walked us right to the Lama Temple. Then we spent about 5 minutes explaining that we were looking for the Golden Tripod to eat before we went to Lama Temple. We were starving! He tried to help us, but no one seemed to know where it was. We ended up eating at the first restaurant we could find. We decided to try the famous roasted duck, which was yummy if you ate it in the lettuce wraps with plum sauce, but a bit greasy on its own.
The Lama Temple was beautiful and, for us, much more enjoyable than the Summer Palace. This is a functioning temple, with real monks and people worshiping. It was a bit voyeuristic, but felt more authentic. One of my favorite photos was a picture of a young man in traditional dress taking photos with his cell phone. It was surreal. The cherry blossoms were out too . . . beautiful.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
