Chris - Wednesday's adventure took us out to the Emperors' Summer Palaces - the Beijing equivalent of Versailles extravegence. It was truly spectacular. The gardens and lakes are immense. We saw a marble ship that the Empress Cixi squandered all the navy funds on instead of battles against the Japanese. She was apparently quite a character, notorious for her 108-course meals (three bites for each dish) and demanded on her birthdays that 10,000 birds be freed from their cages. Steph and I, however, lunched on a 1-course noodle lunch for two with beers that came to an impressive 9 yuan - or 1 pound!
We walked off lunch down the world's longest gallery and watched a traditional performance in the 3-story theatre, complete with trap doors for the appearances and disappearances of the actors for the empress, who also liked to join in...
Tonight we will fill up on some famous peking duck in a famous hutong dive. It's the Qi Xi festival - valentines day in China!
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