Summer Palace, Hot Pot, Dongsi Hutong, and Chinese Culture Fair

When we took the subway to The Summer Palace place, I had a Chinese person take a picture of me. That was the first time it had every happened to me, but I believe that this person had never seen a white person before.

When I entered the palace, the first thing that caught my eye was the big gold Buddha. They do not allow you to take pictures of Buddha and Chinese people were bowing around him.

Suzhou Market Street was really spectacular and was Carly's favorite part of the Palace. There are over 60 stores that extend along the Back lake. We met a paddle boat on the street and it took us all around Kunming Lake. Carly told me that this was her first time on a boat, which I didn't realize.

Outside of The Great Wall, the Summer Palace is one of the most beautiful things I have seen in China so far. I consists of lakes, gardens, and palaces in Beijing. It was an imperial garden in the Qing Dynasty.

The construction of Summer palace took place in 1750 as a garden for royal families to rest and entertain. It was then the main residence of royal members in the end of the Qing Dynasty.

The Chinese culture fair was pretty neat and we were able to meet many expats living in Beijing. The culture fair had many local artists and cooks. I bought Carly a lollypop that was shaped like a pig.

We went on a tour of the Beijing Hutongs. These places are very special to Beijing culture because they show the traditional architecture of Beijing. They are cramped courtyard-style housing with few facilities.

Many of the hutongs even have rings where horses used to be tied up.

Unfortunately, the government is trying to tear these down because they are trying to increase the standards of living. Most of the people living in the hutongs are old and their houses will be destroyed when they die.

Beijing is know as the old city with much history. If the hutongs are destroyed, much of the history is destroyed.

Hot pot is a Chinese cooking method, prepared with a pot of soup stock. The customers choose the ingredients. The pot is kept boiling while customers prepare their food on the table. We had been afraid to try this for a while because we weren't sure how it would taste and none of the restaurants can speak English and explain the process to you. We tried this for the first time last week and Carly said it is the best food she has had so far.