Spent much of today (more than planned!) at the old summer palace - what's left of it, after it was razed by French and British soldiers after
the second Opium War, looted for new buildings and given a final push by the cultural revolution. Long abandoned, it's recently been restored
and offers endless carefully planned vistas, some intimate and others vast (Hangzhou's West Lake is evoked), usually with the foundation of a
lost pavilion created to savor each one's beauty. In this season, many a pond is brimming over with lotuses, some taller than a person. Among
the few surviving ruins are the carved stone of early fusion European baroque palaces from the mid 18th century, fabulously romantic!
Spent much of today (more than planned!) at the old summer palace - what's left of it, after it was razed by French and British soldiers after 
the second Opium War, looted for new buildings and given a final push by the cultural revolution. Long abandoned, it's recently been restored
lost pavilion created to savor each one's beauty. In this season, many a pond is brimming over with lotuses, some taller than a person. Among 
the few surviving ruins are the carved stone of early fusion European baroque palaces from the mid 18th century, fabulously romantic!