Winter visit to the Summer Palace

A great Saturday trip. But I believe it's even more beautiful during summer. At the entrance there where people offering us personal guiding for 100 RMB. But we chose to do it y our selves. A little more freedom of what to see... Inside we just caught a show of different traditional performances; you can look at some of it further down the blog. I have learned how to post movie clips!

In the north west part of Beijing they have the Summer Palace. It was used a lot by the Empress Cixi, mother of the last Emperor, in the end of 19th century and beginnin gof 20th century. (She also ran the country for 40 years because the emperor only was a child when he became regent. You know, the movie!)
A celebration room with lots of presents for the empress.
Some guy, can't remember, but he looks cool... Could be Confusius?
This I know, it's Buddha. But it's an old statue so here he's called Bodhisattva. I think it looks very Hindu to me. But it's all sprung from the same foundation I believe.

The temples and pavilions where highly decorated and newly renovated, probably for the Olympic game.But not all of them...Afterward we went out on the ice, like hundreds of others. We slipped around there for a while and we found a dead fish in the ice! I've never seen that before. My guess is that it's a sign that the lake is bottom frozen.