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Monday 29 September 2014

The Old Summer Palace – the ruins.

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This was the bit I wanted to see most, it gives some small idea of how the gateway must have once looked.

The ruins of the buildings at The Old Summer Palace are spread over a large area. To see large pieces of beautifully carved marble just lying around is really very sad. I am sure the buildings which once stood on this site were amazing, and although we didn’t see any of the ones that are left I have seen photos on Google of parts of the park that we missed and there are some lovely buildings.  If I get back out to Beijing again, this is one site I would happily revisit, and suspect that one day would just not be enough to see everything.

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There are notices everywhere saying ‘no climbing’, but everyone was climbing over everything.

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This must have been a beautiful lion statue.

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We saw lots of people having their photos taken here.

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Beautifully carved pieces of marble everywhere you looked.

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Quite a few pieces have numbers on, maybe at some time in the future there will be some mini reconstructions like the gate in the first photo.

 

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Alice standing beside a reconstructed door header.

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And me with a silly grin…..lol

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The centre of a pond, it looks like it is the base of a fountain.

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This was what Alice wanted to see most of all – the remains of a once fantastic fountain.

Alice in front of the fountain.

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What a fabulous sight this must have been when it was in working order.

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Carved marble pieces everywhere you look, it is sad to see.

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The gateway again, in the late afternoon sun, it is an amazing sight. I have seen photos of this with people climbing all over it, this area is now fenced off.

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Close up photos of some of the carvings on the gateway.

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Just to prove we really were there Smile

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One more blog on the Old Summer Palace to come, below is a teaser photo, any idea what this lovely little pavilion is doing in the middle of the ruins?

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