Margies’ travelogue is much more detailed than mine so I am taking a break and using hers. I may add some comments especially around the Harley-Davidson Store part. But enjoy….
We had an 8 am departure to the Summer Palace and Gardens. This area was built around 1750 during the Ching Dynasty. It was only for the Emperor, his family, and their servants. This means about 2000 people! It was the summer home of the emperor for the 3 hot months of the summer. The entire area covers about 290 hectres and is 4x larger than the Forbidden City. 2/3 of the surface area is covered by a man-made lake (which is a copy of Hangzhou’s West Lake!). From Beijing boats could travel through the canals and bring the family to this palace.
