Memoirs of my first trips to China: Beijing Trip Part I (Summer Palace)

Hello again.
As always, it's been a while since the last post, but I'm sure this one won't disappoint. This was one of the best weekends I've ever had in China.
The Olympics had just ended not but a week ago and we decided that it would be one of the best times to make a trip out to Beijing. All of the trappings of the Olympics would still be up but we wouldn't have to deal with any of the madness of the huge crowds. Booked and excited we packed for our weekend in the capital city of China. Even though we were only doing this on a weekend between our working schedule, we intended to try to get everything in, no matter what. We scheduled a tour guide and bus, with the promise of experiencing both the Emperor's Summer Palace and Great Wall in one day! We flew right out of Shenzhen Airport, only 30mins from our work. The four of us, Pat, Hiroshi, Lauren, and myself climbed aboard an Air China Boeing 737 and made the 3 hr flight up to Beijing.

First stop, The Emperor's Summer Palace. Apparently leading all of China was a difficult thing. The Emperor would get tired of all that ruling on high and in the heat of the summer he would move his rule about an hour from the center of Beijing to someplace a little more soothing. This was the summer palace. We hired a tour guide. Cindy was her name and she was awesome. She told us some interesting stories about this place. One that sticks out in my mind is the story of the Dragon Lady. She started as a concubine to the Emperor. She gave birth to his only son. Then when that son was only about 10 years old, the Emperor died. The son became the emperor but it was clear that she was standing behind everything pulling the strings. The son was weak and died when he was nearly ready to take power back from his mother. Then with the only heir to the throne dead, Dragon lady appointed the son's young cousin to the throne. But he too was young. And she was able to extend her rule for many more years. She was a force to be reckoned with. There would be a flag lifted high above the Summer Palace anytime she took a nap. This warned people to be particularly quiet. No one wanted to endure the punishment for waking the Dragon Lady!

The Summer Palace is positioned on a lake for that cool breeze off the water. And I imagine much time and care was taken to remove some of the amazing stones that lined the courtyards of the palace after you enter.