The Summer Palace: A World of Color

The gorgeous Marble Boat, also known as the Boat of Purity and Ease,
which sits on Kunming Lake.

A map of the Summer Palace
(click to enlarge).
Source

The Summer Palace（Yiheyuan; 頤和園）is a 1.1 square mile (2.9 square meter) compound of temples, residences, and gardens formerly occupied by Chinese nobility. Longevity Hill（wanshoushan; 萬壽山）and Kunming Lake（kunminghu; 昆明湖）dominate most of the land. Like many antiquated areas of Beijing, nature is the focal point of the Summer Palace, which was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1998. However, I didn't find this to be the case in the Forbidden City, which has a more solemn feel in my opinion. 

People taking a rest.

While the location of the Summer Palace goes back as far as the Jin Dynasty (1115-1234), the palace as it's known now was established during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1912). After part of it was destroyed during the Second Opium War (1856-1860), the infamous Empress Dowager Cixi used money allocated for the navy to rebuilt it for her 60th birthday.

In regards to ancient sites, the Summer Palace was my favorite stop in China. Unfortunately, my class suffered time restraints like we did when visited the Forbidden City. As a result, we only had about two hours to explore the massive palace. Nevertheless, my classmates and I somehow made it work and we were able to see several of the main temples and halls in the palace.

The Forbidden City (故宮)

My photograph of the Forbidden City in 2011.

The Forbidden City in 1900.
Source 

The Forbidden City or gugong （故宮）was crowned a UNESCO World Heritage site as it is considered the best preserved set of wooden structures in the world. It served as the imperial palace for emperors beginning in the Ming Dynasty until the end of the Qing Era, the last of China's dynasty periods. Construction began on the Forbidden City in 1406 under the charge of the Yongle Emperor Zhu Di, and it was completed in 1420. The city is about 180 acres and includes nearly 1,000 buildings.

As the Forbidden City is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Beijing—if not China—the area was completely crowded on the summer weekend my class visited. In addition, several local visitors wanted to take pictures of us. It was almost like we were a free attraction, especially for the family that had their hands in my braids at the entrance—strangely amusing!

Despite the occasional unwanted attention, I was happy to visit the Forbidden City as it is so well preserved. However, our class schedule was tight and we were only given two hours to explore, not nearly enough time to see everything. At least, I think a person would need half a day to thoroughly enjoy the Forbidden City. 

參觀故宮

2011年的故宮

大家知道，故宮（也叫紫禁城）是在北京最有名的名勝古跡之一。我和我同學一起去故宮，是一日遊（我們先去了天安們廣場）。夏天的時候，是很熱鬧的地方，人太多。也有很多想拍我的照片的人。按我的經驗在北京沒有辦法避免那种人。

1900年的故宮
Source 

固然故宮是很漂亮的地方，不過對我一點難享受因為人很多，所以看每座大廳不太方便。只要忍耐就行了哈哈。

我們班只有了兩個小時在故宮，時間太少了，沒辦法什麼都看到。最多我之看到差不多三分之一故宮。參觀每地方在故宮裡需要四個鐘頭多，我覺得。

Wangfujing's "Taiwan Great Food Street"//王府井的“台灣美食街

夜市招牌跟台灣地圖。
The night market sign with a map of Taiwan.

夜市大門口。
The night market main entrance.

我不知道誰決定王府井的夜市應該命名“台灣美食街”；王府井的食物跟在台灣夜市的不太一樣啊！好，說實在的，台灣美食街有一些在台灣可以找到的食物，但是大部分不是台灣式的。我2011年參觀王府井的夜市，所以從那時到現在應該改變了吧。

I don't know who decided Wangfujing's night market should be named "Taiwan Great Food Street". The food there and Taiwanese night market fare is not that similar! Granted, Taiwan Great Food Street has some of the same food you can find in Taiwan, but most of it isn't Taiwanese-style. However, I went there in 2011, so it must have changed since then.

烤肉
Kebab meat

去王府井不是我們班的實地考察之一，就是去過中國一次的同學陪我們去。王府井對我很有意思因為人觀看是我的興趣之一。因為王府井很有名，所以很熱鬧的地方。到了夜晚，商店仍然象白天一樣，非常熱鬧。到周末好像北京人都去王府井以的。

Going to Wangfujing wasn't a field trip arranged for our class, a classmate who had been to China before led some of us there. Before I went to Wangfujing, I didn't know what to expect. Wangfujing is interesting in my opinion because people-watching is one of my hobbies. Because Wangfujing is very famous, it's a bustling place. At night, the stores are still teeming with people as they are in the daytime. 

798 Art District

The sign at the main entrance.

Like any other place in Beijing, people
wanted to take pictures with me.

Because I love art, my favorite place in Beijing was 798 Art District (popularly called "qi-jiu-ba" or 7-9-8) which is located in Chaoyang (朝陽區).

Why does the art district have such a name?  Well, long story short, the area was an old industrial zone where a large factory called Factory 718 was built.  One of the buildings within the factory was named Factory 798.  So, when the artists moved in, the numbers from that factory became popularized and eventually became the name for the entire area.