After two days of touring we were a little tired but ready for one more go a the historical sights of China. We took an early train from Beijing to small town (700,00!!) called Chengde. We are not exactly sure how it works but this is also a summer palace. We thought that we had already seen it but apparently not. Actually Chengde is more than a place to relax, the government actually moved here on several occasions. Also when the emperor had guests he liked to entertain them here. And to make them feel comfortable he built things to suit them. Since over the years several minorities have been incorporated into China there are some temples that represent the religion of the minorities. There was a quite the temple in the Tibetan style which is a reproduction of the one in Lhasa, the capital of the "autonomous" region of Tibet.

We spent the afternoon touring some of the temples and gardens that made up the summer retreat. Two interesting things of note. What took us fours on the train to travel took 14-15 days in the emperors' time. At that time he traveled by palanquin, in the style you see temple guest being carried at right.

The next day we took a bus ride back to Beijing and here is where we parted company with Sarah's parents and Ting's family. They took a plane back to Shanghai and we stayed for one more night in Beijing. We visited with a friend from California, Vicky, and her husband, Dennis who met for the first time. They have a great apartment in Beijing and we enjoyed a nice head massage, some great food, and a nice sleep before heading out on the road with just the two of us.

On to Gansu page