The Summer Palace at Walking the Wall

If someone had told us six months ago we’d spend October in Beijing waiting for a broken foot to heal, we can’t honestly say we’d have been thrilled. Fortunately, there are consolations.

October is absolutely the best time to come to Beijing. There’s only a narrow window of time between Beijing’s stifling, smoggy summers and frigid grey winters, and it’s right now – clear skies (by Beijing standards), warm days and cool nights. We know that 8 is an auspicious number hereabouts, but we can’t help but wish they’d scheduled the Beijing Olympics for October (the opening ceremony is 08/08/2008).

Yesterday we headed out to our favourite spot on the Beijing Tourist Trail, the Summer Palace. We’ve been there before, but like many of Beijing’s most famous spots, there has been a lot of restoration work going on while Beijing dresses up for the Olympics. So for us, this is the first time we’ve seen some of the most famous buildings when they were not covered by scaffolds.

Most of the buildings and landscaping at the Summer Palace date from the reign of Emperor Qianlong in the 18th century. Though British and French troops rampaged through the grounds in the 19th century, many of the buildings have been restored, so it’s possible to get a good feel for the place as it once must have been. It was a beautiful, crisp autumn day when we were out there, great for strolling under the willows, fishing or just taking pictures.