Plants, Architecture, a Great View
Trip Start
May 21, 2012
1
5
47
Trip End
Ongoing
Where I stayed
What I did
Beijing, China
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
I'm not sure where this fits in, but along the way, I saw a man using a broom that is very popular in China. It's a bunch of branches bound together that splay out on the end. I've always found that interesting, so I thought I'd stick it in here.
The park was very beautiful, with lovely bamboo groves and lots of trees and rock paths.
But something really spectacular is the view from the top. You can see all of the Forbidden City sprawled out in front of you. It's amazing how far it extends and how much of it there is. You could literally spend days exploring it.
There were many different pagodas on different peaks throughout the park.
One had a special set-up with traditional costumes in all sizes and a place where, for a fee of course, you could sit and have your picture taken.
Veronica and I climbed up to a pagoda and looked down at the level below. Hello down there!
A really interesting historical point is that the last Ming emperor, when he was being overthrown, killed his wife and children and fled the Forbidden City. He ran to Jingshan Park and hung himself on this tree (actually, the tree was cut down, but the stones here are a memorial of that event)
Another point of interest about Chinese parks is that people love to perform or do things in groups in parks. We often saw old ladies doing synchronized dancing. Here, we saw a woman with a whole sound system singing. Just for anyone who happened to be passing by. But this isn't abnormal in China. I found that really interesting.
As we were leaving the park, we saw a sign for the annual peony festival. Apparently the peony is the national flower of China. Lovely!
