China pt. 4: Summer Palace and 798

The Empress Dowager Cixi sure had some fantastic digs at the Summer Palace. You can see the immense size of the estate by looking at a map of Beijing. The lake alone was dredged to be large enough for the Chinese Navy to perform naval drills in front of the Emperor. It must have been sweet to be royal in China...

Among many things, the Summer Palace is famous for the long corridor, Longevity Hill, Kunming Lake, Dowager Cixi, and her plays. The view from the top of Longevity Hill is the best place to understand the scale of this property. It's simply amazing. In an effort to stave off mental relapsing from over exposure to a city's vast history, we gave ourselves the footnote tour of the Summer Palace. I tend to have interest in sites like these, but when there is only enough time to stack one on top of another for 5 days, I'm happy with the abbreviated tour.

Imagine warships.

Your typical royal door.

Almost the whole shibang.

The solution to our waste problem.

I found this garbage/recycling container inside the Summer Palace. There was another type of container labeled similarly, minus the "garbage" part. I'm not sure if that means I should put the obvious recyclables in the other container; then use this one for questionable items, and items I'm certain can't be recycled. Either way, I'm sure whoever sorts through the waste at the end of the day gets to decide. I like the optimism.

Our second point of interest in day four was the 798 art district. This area is about half way between the airport and the city center, not reachable by subway. So our un-savy bus skills left us in a taxi. Fortunately the cost of a taxi across town in Beijing is about equivalent to four subway tickets across town in Seoul.

The 798 art district is comprised of renovated industrial buildings for the purpose of showing and creating art. In addition to the various galleries, there are sculptures placed in random courtyards and corners. It seems to be a very hip/trendy, developing area. I think in a few more years there will be more galleries, restaurants, and bars. One disappointment is this area shuts down around 7PM, which doesn't leave any option for night time restaurant and art hopping.

798.

Man at work.

Referring to the reflection.

A side note about this "Man at Work" sign, it was written in many languages at the base of a statue of Jesus on the cross. Not only is this a hilarious comparison to our understanding of "work", but the idea intensified my curiosity regarding art in China. Art plays a significant role in society as a means of protest and propaganda (see Uncle Sam or Guernica) . If the people of China are allowed to create and display art, what kind of control does the government have? Unfortunately I didn't think to ask any of the gallery staff this question, I'm sure their answers would have been interesting.