I love Summer Palace and I regret not scheduling it sooner in the trip because as you read on, some unfortunate events took place this day.
Since it was Sunday, and as I mentioned earlier, Cole is Catholic, we woke up early to check out, and go to church. The church was on Wangfujing street, so it was super convenient for us too.
The mass was in Chinese not English, but it was oddly beautiful seeing how the Chinese priest accepted everyone, and there was a shared atmosphere of understanding amongst everyone. I guess the words from the Lord transcend language barriers.
After service, we got a traditional breakfast before we headed to the Summer Palace.
From Wangfujing Street, we took the train all the way to the Summer Palace. The commute was only about 45 minutes (that's the same time BART claims to take you from Fremont to San Francisco in the event the train does not get delayed, which is never the case 😂).
This stands as an all-time tweet:
Aside from the jokes, here are some photos:
Thankfully our ticket came with a boat ride!
Here are some money shots I took on the digital camera:
These are probably the most beautiful and best photos I took on this trip. Summer Palace definitely one of the prettiest places I have been fortunate enough to visit to!
Before we left the Summer Palace, we had to stop for ice cream because it was sweltering hot, and we needed something cool!
While we were sitting down and enjoying our delicious bingqilin, Cole was approached by a Chinese family, who insisted on taking a photo with us! 😂
Some more photos I took at Summer Palace as we left:
As we were waiting for our taxi to Marco Polo Bridge, a sudden downpour happened, and soaked us. I just knew the taxi driver was angry that we soaked his car and I did not speak Chinese. He was probably madder at the latter.
Unfortunately because we were so drenched, we could not explore of the Marco Polo Bridge. We decided to go back to the hotel to change clothes, eat a final Peking Duck dinner, then head to the airport.
Look away Vegans:
We got to the airport much earlier than we needed, but we wanted to play it safe since it was our first domestic leg of the trip.
Overall, aside from the heat and the constant crowds, I really enjoyed my time in Beijing! However, with how much I did in 5 days, I have a strange feeling that Beijing is a city that visiting once is enough. I heavily despised the constant surveillance there, and the feeling of always being on my toes. If I do get the chance to go to Beijing again, which probably will happen since I want to go to Xi'an and have to transit at Peking Airport, I would gladly take a few days in Beijing!