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INDIVIDUAL VOYAGE THROUGH CHINA DURING 7 WEEKS PEKING XIAN CHENGDU CHONGQING YANGTZE RIVER MOUNTS HUANGSHAN HANGZHOU SUZHOU SHANGHAI PEKING
Wednesday, November 30, 2005
Summer Palace
We choose the Summer Palace (Yi He yuan) for a “good bye China”. The palace is situated in an immense park, 20 km from the center. The Emperors used it since 1153 as a summer residence, an escape from the ferocious heat. Empress Cixi (Tsen hi) who reigned from 1881 to 1908 named it “Garden of Harmony”.
First of all we go toward Kunming Lake with its 17-arch bridge. Along the lake we enter the Long Corridor (700m) decorated with mythical scenes. Here are landscapes of Hangzhou, its lake and hills where my mind returns for a while. At the end of the gallery a path leads to a temple at the top of a hill. From here we have a splendid view of the garden in green and early autumn colors around the lake with two beautiful white stone bridges. How nice look the glazed tiles of a temple twinkling on the sun.
Back to the lake we taste a fish, fished in the lake, in an ancient theatre turned into a restaurant. Exploring further we discover a place with some pretty pavilions around a pond. They say the Empress came here to rest in calms and harmonies of the garden. So we do, meditating on the unforgettable moments in this country.
Invisibly bonds keep us on the lake. The sun is setting down. Smiling children leaning on my shoulder look curiously at the words I am writing on my notebook. I feel melancholy thinking of the return.
The plane takes off…..soon we are high in the air…..China is yet far behind us but visions…..Chengdu, Leshan, Yangtze, Huangshan, smiling faces…. mingle with melodious airs and I think perhaps…I dreamed!
The 17-arch bridge
We choose the Summer Palace (Yi He yuan) for a “good bye China”. The palace is situated in an immense park, 20 km from the center. The Emperors used it since 1153 as a summer residence, an escape from the ferocious heat. Empress Cixi (Tsen hi) who reigned from 1881 to 1908 named it “Garden of Harmony”.
First of all we go toward Kunming Lake with its 17-arch bridge. Along the lake we enter the Long Corridor (700m) decorated with mythical scenes. Here are landscapes of Hangzhou, its lake and hills where my mind returns for a while. At the end of the gallery a path leads to a temple at the top of a hill. From here we have a splendid view of the garden in green and early autumn colors around the lake with two beautiful white stone bridges. How nice look the glazed tiles of a temple twinkling on the sun.
Back to the lake we taste a fish, fished in the lake, in an ancient theatre turned into a restaurant. Exploring further we discover a place with some pretty pavilions around a pond. They say the Empress came here to rest in calms and harmonies of the garden. So we do, meditating on the unforgettable moments in this country.
Invisibly bonds keep us on the lake. The sun is setting down. Smiling children leaning on my shoulder look curiously at the words I am writing on my notebook. I feel melancholy thinking of the return.
The plane takes off…..soon we are high in the air…..China is yet far behind us but visions…..Chengdu, Leshan, Yangtze, Huangshan, smiling faces…. mingle with melodious airs and I think perhaps…I dreamed!
The 17-arch bridge
Posted by: jeanette / 1:42 AM 
