Another great day in Beijing. I ventured out of my nice hotel room at Zongthang Courtyard hotel armed with a note in chinese, which said, that I was going to the Summer Palace.
I also knew, that bus 808 would take me directly there – and that it ran on the XiSi just off the hotel. So off I went.
I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I found the bus, but couldn’t find the busstop. The closest one was a mile down the road. Anyway. Well boardet the already very full bus, and at 36 degrees Celcius, I was sweating… No worries, this is a local bus, and will bring me to the destination quickly.
1½ hours later, we arrived at the end station. This was luckily also the Summer Palace… 35 Yuan poorer I entered the impressive gate. To realize, that the palace was built on a hillside – so my sour calfes were again challenged with lots of steps uphill… But what a marvel to behold. Beautiful… especially the view over the palace lake from the top of the hill… the pagodas, the buildings, the atmosphere… WAAU. A must do, if you ever get to China.
I spend at least 4 hours there, and am told, that the organised tours spend half that. That is a pity. So go there by yourself. Its easy to get there and away. And you can spend a full day if you wish.
