The Summer Palace

The Empress Dowager, the last genuine royal leader of the Qing Dynasty before its collapse in 1911 had a special summer palance constructed outside of Beijing for her to get away from the stifling urban confines of the Forbidden City.

It is a beautiful sprawling and park-like place with lakes and palace and even a boat made out of marble, the height perhaps of useless extravagance.

At the bottom, are a couple of a large group of photos of me with young Chinese people who wanted to get their photo with me.