Day 3 Morning - Summer Palace and Beijing’s Giant Pandas

This is a real “peoples’ park”… formerly the summer home of the Dragon Lady (one of only two female empresses that succeeded to the throne). The Dragon Lady, widowed at 26, camped here every April through October with no one but her, her servants, and her male concubines. She was Buddhist and commissioned the build of a monstrous three-story temple on the Summer Palace grounds. She never went beyond the first of three floors – and it was the only building the British didn’t burn during their invasion. Modern day Beijing residents love to come to this park to practice their calligraphy and their tai chi, to relax by the huge man-made lake, and to ride the dragon boats that float that lake in the summer months.

But this is winter. Still – there are many people visiting Summer Palace to see its beautiful murals on the long covered corridors, and to enjoy the crisp outdoors.


After visiting Summer Palace we went to see the Giant Pandas at Beijing Zoo. Folks in the States know that the Beijing Zoo is well-recognized for various efforts to assist the Atlanta, D.C., and San Diego zoos foster their panda population. The Beijing Zoo is very small – mostly just the pandas… Enjoy the snaps.