Day 4 - 17 Apr 2014

 After leaving the hotel we went to clothing market store (SANTITUN YASHOW CLOTHING MARKET). There were probably some good value items on sale, but how you judge the quality I'm not certain. I looked at the footwear (Asics brand, at least they looked like Asics ). The first price they asked was 400 yuan, about A$80, I got them down to 150 yuan, about A$50. It would have been reasonable price but not fantastic as I bought some in Australia (admittedly on sale for A$75). However, because of uncertainty over quality I did not purchase them.

Just next door was a upmarket store. They also had an Asics store, however, they were dearer than in Australia(full price). No shoes unless there is something in Shainghai.

Market Clothing Store

 We then drove to the Hutong area. This areas style was created by the Mongols. Hutong are name of the narrow allies between the houses. Although it looks a little like a slum area there are apparently some very rich people live there. We had a meal in one of the local houses. The owner was one of the top Chiefs in Beijing. Some reasonable tasty dishes. The Carrot dish, his own creation, was particularly tasty. There were 3 rooms, an entrance with cooking facilities, a dining area and bedroom.

Remains of the Meal

The other room in the house

 Next was the rickshaw ride around the streets of the town

After the ride we headed to the Summer Palace. A few photos of districts through which we passed

Summer Palace, an Imperial Garden in Beijing

The Summer Palace in Beijing – first built in 1750, largely destroyed in the war of 1860 and restored on its original foundations in 1886 – is a masterpiece of Chinese landscape garden design. The natural landscape of hills and open water is combined with artificial features such as pavilions, halls, palaces, temples and bridges to form a harmonious ensemble of outstanding aesthetic value.

The Palace is extensively used by the locals for a day out.

17 Span Bridge (Marco Polo Bridge)

The long corridor is long roofed corridor with paintings every meter or so. The painters are a collection of views by a Chinese artist from his travels throughout the world

The Long Corridor

The Marble Boat

Boat on Lake

We drove back to the hotel to get ready for dinner and a show of Acrobatics

Dinner was a duplicate of other banquets we'd had. Although the food was reasonable a little more variety would have been nice.

The Acrobatic Show

Four Motorbikes were operating in the sphere

The show was great, definitely worthwhile.

Back to the hotel as we have 5.30 start tomorrow as we fly to Xian.