The Summer Palace

Last weekend I finally visited The Summer Palace (颐和园) for the first time. I can’t believe I lived in Beijing for almost three years before visiting one of the main attractions in the city. In my defense, Beijing is huge and it’s quite far away from where I live.

But enough of my excuses, last weekend I had arranged to meet up with some friends from the UK, Andrew and Fran, who were touring Asia. They were stopping for a few days in Beijing and asked if I would like to meet them at The Summer Palace.

It had been seven years since I had last seen them, so I was very excited to see them and finally see The Summer Palace in all its glory.

It was a beautiful, clear and sunny day. After the initial issues of meeting up with people in such a big park, (coupled with my terrible bearings and sense of direction) I found them waiting for me near the north gate.

Many parts of the park were crowded but incredibly beautiful and the spectacular views almost made me forget that I was still in the same city.

After walking around the park for a while, we sat down by the lake and reminisced about the past while catching up on the main events of the previous seven years.

Andrew and Fran told me that they had eaten some suspicious snacks and mystery meat while visiting some night markets, so I decided to take them both for a couple of drinks and the chance to taste some delicious authentic Chinese food.

It was a lovely weekend catching up with two friends and I feel a sense of achievement that I can finally add The Summer Palace to the list of places I have been to in Beijing. I hope it's not another seven years before I see Andrew and Fran again.

Tuần trước, tôi đã đi Di Hòa Viên, một công viên rất đẹp. Ở đó tôi đã gặp vài người bạn cũ. Sau đó, tôi đã dẫn bạn cũ tôi đến nhà hàng Trung Quốc. Tôi yêu thích từng giây phút của một ngày tuyệt vời!