Wed, 4/11. Gorgeous day.  After the traditional “Don’t Drink The Water, etc.” briefing, we went by bus to the Summer Palace.  The city is much lower to the ground than Shanghai.  Not nearly as pretty.  But the much feared smog was non-existant.  The Summer Palace is on the side of a very large man-made lake.  Max depth: 2 meters.  Many beautiful buildings, statues, and rocks.  Though old, it’s more recent history is more noteworthy.  By recent, I mean within two hundred years from now.  Seems a dowager empress insisted on a beautification project of the Palace grounds (after European powers had burned it down) rather than updating the country’s navy, which was soon after soundly beaten by Japan’s navy.

Lunch was fine.  Prettily dressed servers with odd hats.  After returning to the hotel we were cut lose for the afternoon.  I went wandering towards a lama buddhist temple we’d driven past, mostly to see the shops along the road.  But I discovered down a side street the Temple of Confucius and Imperial College Museum.  Wonderful!  Really should be on the tour.  Virtually all the signage was also in English.  Lots of history, including the development of China’s famous qualifications process to become a public official.  Not too crowded, rather peaceful.  I was there until they closed.

Our official greetings dinner was at a table for 14 with a massive lazy susan.  For me, the noise level with 13 others in a circle made conversation impossible.  Wanted to leave so badly, but stuck around until the coffee.

17 arch bridge. Nine is a lucky number. The center arch is the ninth in either direction.

Boat (sort of) made out of marble. The superstructure is painted wood. “Boat of Purity and Ease”

There were many of these. The Tablet above is to recognize some great event or announce the start of a project.

This is some kind of musical instrument.

College Exams.