Tuesday, 20 September - to Xi'an

We're a tired bunch tonight! We left the hotel [in Beijing] quite early after gathering together all our stuff and worrying about weight allowances and so on [as we were to tour Beijing in the morning and fly to Xi'an in the afternoon - 2 hr flight ].

First stop was the Summer Palace,  

which is really a huge park with a fascinating history of intrigue and trechery. 

[ClickPic: Vyvian giving briefing about the Summer Palace   

One feature is the Marble Boat which the Empress, Cixi, built with the money that should have paid for the Chinese navy.   [

Hence their poor war record for many years.

We took a boat across the lake and walked back along a 3/4 km. covered boardwalk with amazing paintings all over the pillars and ceilings.

From there we headed toward the airport, stopping for another great meal [ and saying goodbye to Vyvian, our Beijing guide ]. We're all becoming so adept with chopsticks that the weight loss thing isn't likely to happen. The flight to Xi'an involved the usual airport hassles and luggage dragging but was uneventful.

[ClickPic: Janice and our boat for crossing 

[ClickPic: covered walk and paintings   

[ClickPic:covered walk and paintings    

[ClickPic: wall of flowers on entrance