On Sunday we took a chilly (one of us was freezing) afternoon outing in our very own Haidian District to the “Old” Summer Palace (not to be confused with “The” Summer Palace mentioned in the very first post of this blog).  The “old” palace was the original summer palace, aka the “Garden of Perfect Brightness.”  Of course it is no longer perfect or bright since it was destroyed by British and French troops in the Opium War of 1860 (drug wars, destruction… the endless human condition)…

This “palace” was once a glorious collection of gardens and pavilions.  Now, it’s a desolate, great big depressing reminder to the Chinese of the destruction the Anglos brought.  On Sunday, the cold, winter day only added to the gloom.  The girls, however, had fun running around the expansive park grounds, and trying Chinese cotton candy…

We also paid a few extra yuan to enter the “spectacular” ice sculpture exhibit.  I’ll spare you the pictures of that.  Just imagine: a big dark (and dank) circus tent full of dirty, melting snow sculptures illuminated with psychedelic lights, and cheesy piped in music (misty water colored memories….)…

So that was Sunday… and here it is Friday again (see what I mean about delays and dealing with a time schedule that is out of my control…).  The girls are off from school today as BISS is hosting an international Flat Classroom Conference, but we’ve been invited on a play date to go ice-skating at a mall…  so another adventure awaits…

The grounds of the destroyed "palace" (really a series of elaborate gardens and pavilions) have been left like this. A reminder to the Chinese of what the Anglos did to them...

Original low walls and steps are all that is left...

Ruins...

Original floors...

Along the various walkways and floors you can see where there once were pillars, no doubt holding up the fabulous painted roofs and ceilings I love...

History...

The grounds cover almost 1,000 acres with all kinds of walks and bridges...

Lots of places for kids to hide...

And strange stone formations (caused by fire?)...

Had to try the cotton candy...

Beautiful walls like this one stretch for miles in Haidian District. They surround the old summer palace, but also the entire campus of Peking University (enormous)...