The Summer Palace, Beijing, is where the Emperor used to go and relax, chill out, read some magazines, do a bit of strategy, practice some yoga, maybe meditate a bit, play a game of badminton and some chess, row on the lake, take some selfies, do some painting etc…

Our photos are not meant to be deliberately the opposite of the name of this complex of walkways and palace, but it was minus something degrees C. Our multi-layered clothing from backpacks coming in useful at last….Kingston our tour guide, who is Micheal’s assistant where we stay, came with us to help translate and navigate our way from Tianjin, I think we helped him more with the navigating on his first trip to the palace.

covering up for the smog or just the cold

the long corridor

blowing hard

even the plant life is shivering

fancy a dip in the water

picture postcard views

The palace area and lake are breathtaking and definitely worth a trip back to, but perhaps in weather that is more conducive to sightseeing next time 🙂