Yuanmingyuan

Twilight
I took a few hours off on Wednesday afternoon to visit Yuanmingyuan. The English name is the "Old Summer Palace", which is not a translation and doesn't seem to have much to do with the rather sorry history. It's in the north of Beijing, about a half hour bus ride from the BNU campus. (An amazing thing about the Beijing buses is that you seem to be able to get between any two points without changing bus - so long as you can figure out which bus it is! There are at least two that go between the BNU campus and Yuanmingyuan - I took the 331 going and the 726 coming back.)

Now Yuanmingyuan is a large park, largely taken up by with numerous lakes, some with boating, and what is becoming familiar as the "usual" bridges, islands and pavillions. The park did have some very pretty flowering trees and willowy walks, but otherwise is rather barren at this time of year. It's hard to tell yet if it gets much greener later, or is just too dry and overwalked.



Cherry Blossom


Cherry and Forsythia


Bridge and Willow


Enjoying Jasper Pavilion

There were a few self-paddle boaters out, and these strange oar-paddle boats in which a boatsman takes you around. It was too cold today for me to want to do that.



Paddle Boat

The only official "attraction" in the park is the European Palace Ruins - what is left after the British and French troops destroyed some Versailles-style fake European palaces about a century ago.


European Palace Ruins