The two other 名胜古迹's (historical, tourist destinations) I've visited during the month of October were the the Beijing Zoo and 圆明园，the Old Summer Palace.
The Beijing Zoo
As I said in a previous blog post, when my host family asked me what sights I wanted to see in Beijing during Golden Week, the week-long national holiday celebrating China's independence, I could only think of the Beijing Zoo. So, Reta, my host sister, and I went to the Beijing Zoo the day after we visited the Olympic park.
The Beijing Zoo is similar to any other zoo with two exceptions. First, it's absolutely massive. It has almost every animal I've seen in a zoo and more. Also, in terms of physical size, it's much bigger and more wide spread than any zoo I've been to. The zoo is split into three sectors. The first sector, at the front of the park has many of the "publicity" animals, or the animals that people come to see at the zoo, such as the pandas and the monkeys. Another sector, northwest of the first sector, is the African Animals sector. The last sector, directly north of the first one featured the bears, elephants and other large animals. We did not get a chance to visit the African Animals sector, but we did visit the other two sectors, which already took up most of our morning.
The second main difference is the way the zoo was designed. The Beijing Zoo seems to be designed more like a park with animals than like a zoo in the western sense. There are many more trees and grassy areas than in the zoos I've seen. Most exhibits are placed outside, where they are surrounded by grassy areas and tree covered walkways. This provides the feeling of a relaxing walk through a park rather than a zoo.
As a whole, the zoo was a fun excursion. However, when going there as a tourist, make sure you go there on a weekday, when there aren't too many people there. The lines for the boat ride and the panda exhibit that came with the ticket were extremely long because we went on a day with lots of people. Also, if the only reason you visit the zoo is to see the pandas... it might not be worth it. The two pandas there were the sleepiest, dirtiest pandas I've ever seen, albeit extremely cute.
After visiting the zoo, Reta and I went window shopping at the shopping center across from the zoo. The shopping center is even bigger than the zoo and has smaller shops inside, each selling their specialties, which range from fuzzy panda sweaters to knock off hollister sweaters. The best part was that everything was relatively cheap because most of it was wholesale.
The Beijing Zoo
As I said in a previous blog post, when my host family asked me what sights I wanted to see in Beijing during Golden Week, the week-long national holiday celebrating China's independence, I could only think of the Beijing Zoo. So, Reta, my host sister, and I went to the Beijing Zoo the day after we visited the Olympic park.
The Beijing Zoo is similar to any other zoo with two exceptions. First, it's absolutely massive. It has almost every animal I've seen in a zoo and more. Also, in terms of physical size, it's much bigger and more wide spread than any zoo I've been to. The zoo is split into three sectors. The first sector, at the front of the park has many of the "publicity" animals, or the animals that people come to see at the zoo, such as the pandas and the monkeys. Another sector, northwest of the first sector, is the African Animals sector. The last sector, directly north of the first one featured the bears, elephants and other large animals. We did not get a chance to visit the African Animals sector, but we did visit the other two sectors, which already took up most of our morning.
The second main difference is the way the zoo was designed. The Beijing Zoo seems to be designed more like a park with animals than like a zoo in the western sense. There are many more trees and grassy areas than in the zoos I've seen. Most exhibits are placed outside, where they are surrounded by grassy areas and tree covered walkways. This provides the feeling of a relaxing walk through a park rather than a zoo.
As a whole, the zoo was a fun excursion. However, when going there as a tourist, make sure you go there on a weekday, when there aren't too many people there. The lines for the boat ride and the panda exhibit that came with the ticket were extremely long because we went on a day with lots of people. Also, if the only reason you visit the zoo is to see the pandas... it might not be worth it. The two pandas there were the sleepiest, dirtiest pandas I've ever seen, albeit extremely cute.
After visiting the zoo, Reta and I went window shopping at the shopping center across from the zoo. The shopping center is even bigger than the zoo and has smaller shops inside, each selling their specialties, which range from fuzzy panda sweaters to knock off hollister sweaters. The best part was that everything was relatively cheap because most of it was wholesale.
圆明园 (Yuan Ming Yuan) The Old Summer Palace
YuanMing Yuan is the site of the Old Summer palace that was destroyed by the British during the Second Opium War in retaliation for the deaths of around twenty soldiers sent to negotiate a treaty with the Royal Prince. Since then, it has been turned into a park where bits of history can be seen among the beautiful scenery.
When we visited YuanMing Yuan with our host siblings, the weather was perfect. It was the beginning of Autumn, when the leaves were just starting to change colors and the air was getting cooler. D, our resident director, had two scavenger hunts for us to do. The first was to be done before lunch, during the time designated for speaking Chinese only. As we ate lunch, the American students presented their answers in Chinese. The afternoon was then English speaking time with another scavenger hunt, this time in English.
The park was absolutely beautiful and the scavenger hunts only added to the fun. In the morning, Savannah, Reta, Greta (Savannah's host sister) and I made our way to the ruins of the main building of the Summer Palace at the back of the park. The ruins were fun to explore and climb on top of. There was also a maze nearby that we didn't get a change to explore, sadly. In the afternoon, we made it our mission to always choose the least traveled paths around the park. This allowed us to find a traditional Chinese dance performance put on by a local university. We also found a small, perfectly preserved, or just rebuilt, pavilion that was on a little island with no bridge leading to or from it.
YuanMing Yuan is positively the best tourist spot I've been to yet in Beijing. Its name translates to "Gardens of Perfect Brightness" which is lives up to. It was quiet, peaceful and beautiful. There were ponds all around, with boat tours. The vendors weren't too loud and there weren't many people. If you ever come to Beijing, this is the place to visit. However, a bit of advice, don't eat the food cooked and sold there. One of the students did try a Taiwanese sausage and it didn't exactly sit well with his stomach. Nonetheless, YuanMing Yuan was a beautiful park to relax in and just enjoy the scenery.
YuanMing Yuan is the site of the Old Summer palace that was destroyed by the British during the Second Opium War in retaliation for the deaths of around twenty soldiers sent to negotiate a treaty with the Royal Prince. Since then, it has been turned into a park where bits of history can be seen among the beautiful scenery.
When we visited YuanMing Yuan with our host siblings, the weather was perfect. It was the beginning of Autumn, when the leaves were just starting to change colors and the air was getting cooler. D, our resident director, had two scavenger hunts for us to do. The first was to be done before lunch, during the time designated for speaking Chinese only. As we ate lunch, the American students presented their answers in Chinese. The afternoon was then English speaking time with another scavenger hunt, this time in English.
The park was absolutely beautiful and the scavenger hunts only added to the fun. In the morning, Savannah, Reta, Greta (Savannah's host sister) and I made our way to the ruins of the main building of the Summer Palace at the back of the park. The ruins were fun to explore and climb on top of. There was also a maze nearby that we didn't get a change to explore, sadly. In the afternoon, we made it our mission to always choose the least traveled paths around the park. This allowed us to find a traditional Chinese dance performance put on by a local university. We also found a small, perfectly preserved, or just rebuilt, pavilion that was on a little island with no bridge leading to or from it.
YuanMing Yuan is positively the best tourist spot I've been to yet in Beijing. Its name translates to "Gardens of Perfect Brightness" which is lives up to. It was quiet, peaceful and beautiful. There were ponds all around, with boat tours. The vendors weren't too loud and there weren't many people. If you ever come to Beijing, this is the place to visit. However, a bit of advice, don't eat the food cooked and sold there. One of the students did try a Taiwanese sausage and it didn't exactly sit well with his stomach. Nonetheless, YuanMing Yuan was a beautiful park to relax in and just enjoy the scenery.
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