Friday 21 December 2012

12th Nov 2012 Beijing Temple of Heaven and Summer Palace

 Our tour today  in perfect winter sunshine we moved through the city and approached an urban park
Birds of note were the now common Azure winged magpie,Tree sparrows,Chinese Sparrowhawk and
Daurian Starlings.
Leading up to the Temple  through the park there was Tai Chi,gambling and dancing on route.
As ever the achitecture and atmosphere was superb as we passed through the park.

A variety of games and  sport or just general socializing was all around us.
 
This magnificent structure was superb as we viewed it from the courtyard.
Internally painted and decorated too it was great here and not too many people.
We left this area watching locals and tourist mingle at this beautiful place.
We left 1000hrs for our rickshaw ride in Huadong province,the Beijing Old Quarter.
This ride proved interesting for the local people living in the old quarters along the riverside with
willow trees.
I liked it here watching the local people going about their buisness in this quiet alcove
away from the throbbing metropolis around them.
After lunch we headed for the Summer Palace,it was here the Emperor and Empress spent their
summers in seperate palaces.


On the lake a variety of birds showed at long distance of note Little grebe,Great crested grebe,Mergansers and Smew.

Wonderful sculptures and bridges with trees in autumnal colours enhanced this trip
today ,sadly the many tourists make it less peacefull ,as this is what it was intended for.

So ended our cruise /holiday in the far east what a wonderful experience with so much
time but only the tip of the iceberg and I  would like to personally thank Frank Wang.Zhao Hui
he was a superb guide and a credit to his country   Xie  Xie
















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