The Summerpalace

The Summerpalace
written by Koen van Westbroek
translated by Ester van Dam
All pictures taken by Koen van Westbroek except for the cat picture
date: 08-05-2008
location:Beijing



on the 5th of may Xu laoshi and Victoria (one of his Chinese students) took us to the Summerpalace. Xu Laoshi came to pick us up in the morning and then we walked to a parking place where Victoria was already waiting for us with a very luxurious car. We squeezed ourselves in the back and managed to get the door closed with all 4 of us in the back seat, it was cozy to say the least.
The Summerpalace is a beautiful place and there is so much to see that you can go there many times.





I think Xu Laoshi wanted to show us as much as possible because we went through the palace very fast. Maarten and Natasja had to catch up now and then as they kept finding new things to photograph or film.




Victoria had a very large backpack and some sort of portable cool box with a battery containing a very large elaborate but above all delicious lunch. In the afternoon we sat down for a great picknick. We are not sure if it was because of the lunch or dinner of the night before but that afternoon Koen, Natasja and Xu Laoshi had an upset stomach.
We stayed at the Summerpalace until quite late. It was even more beautiful when it was so quiet and empty.




The next day Koen and Ester went to the park alone as Maarten and Natasja weren’t feeling too well. That day it was very quiet anyway. We did a lot of Fa Li exercises and (pushhands) Tui Shou applications. Time just fly that day.
The next day we were all there again and in the evening Xu Laoshi’s wife also came to dinner. We had the most wonderful Peking duck and some other dishes in a fancy looking restaurant. The bits and pieces of the eaten duck that weren’t served at with the pancakes was fried (very yummie) and served with a spicy herb and salt dip. Half way the dinner Xu Laoshi’s daughter joined us. It was clear that she wasn’t quite sure what to do with all these strange foreign people. After being a bit shy to start with (who wouldn’t be) she started to talk more later that evening
After the delicious dinner Xu Laoshi showed us around in the local supermarket, and told us which things were good to buy. Ester and Koen bought some sort of powder that only needed added water to transform into so very nice small evening snack. That is what we could make of the explanation of Xu Laoshi but there is only one way to be sure and that is to try! We bought some bags and thought it would be a good pre-breakfast snack.. It turned out to be some sort of sweet sesame paste with raisons and other dried fruit, we loved it and it certainly gave you extra energy!


Today we stopped early with the training and were taken to some shops were they sold wapons and Kung Fu and TaiChi clothing. Maarten bought a beautiful broadsword in a holder of very light nice wood, some fans and a TaiChi suit. Ester bought 3 fans, 2 bamboo ones and one made of metal. Ester and Koen also bought a Qi Gong belt, next time we hope to get some instruction on how to wear it.
This evening we went for a quick look in the hutong shopping street next to our hostel, when we suddenly saw lot’s of police motorbikes arriving with screaming sirens. At once all shopkeepers started moving all their things that were stalled on the street indoors. A lot of local people gathered to see what all the fuss was about. Because we weren’t quite sure what was going on we decided that it was probably better to leave. On the way back we saw many police officers handing out fines to the shopkeepers who hadn’t managed to get their things inside. So it turned out oke, nothing drastic happened.
Tomorrow Xu Laoshi will take us to Beihai park were we will go and do some eh.. water cycling. But more about that the next time.