Summer Palace and Karaoke: Good Saturday.

As I stated in my last post, there was talk of going to a gorge somewhere near Beijing. I had heard that it was beautiful and that there would be bungee jumping. Unfortunately, the group who was heading out the gorge failed to wake anyone up before they left. So, a few of us decided to get together and head out to see the Summer Palace instead. After about 30 minutes of planning, Muh and I had devised a rather lengthy and complex route involving both buses and the subway to reach the Summer Palace. The palace and its massive lake are in the very northwest of the city and would be a very substantial walk of about 9 miles. So with this plan in mind we rounded up the group and headed out for some lunch. Thankfully, we bumped into one of the Chinese roommates who told us that we could just take one bus all the way to the entrance of the palace. Muh and I were kind of sad that our glorious plan would no longer be needed. After a delicious lunch at a nearby restaurant, we set out on a rather lengthy bus ride. When we got onto the bus, we had to struggle for breathing room and plow our way into the middle of the bus. After about two stops, the entire bus had emptied out and we were all able to get seats. Thirty minutes later we had arrived at the entrance to the Summer Palace and purchased our half-price tickets (thank you student discount). I was amazed as soon as we entered the grounds of the palace. There was a huge lake stretched out in front of me leading to the base of a small mountain range (maybe large hills is a better description, but it doesn't sound as cool). The lake was filled with boats: paddleboats, tour boats shaped like dragons, and a speedboat or two. It was so surprising, in the middle of this huge city, there is a lush lake environment surrounded by walls and mountains.
Across the lake there were several large landmarks that we all wanted to go see. One was a giant temple about a fourth of the way around the lake, which turned out to be the Hall of Dispelling Clouds. The other was a large cylindrical tower completely across the lake from the entrance of the palace.
I should clarify at this point that I am not really sure exactly where the "palace" of the Summer Palace actually resides. There is apparently another part of the Summer Palace that can be entered for a much higher fee, and I think that the palace is there. So when I refer to entering the Summer Palace, I really mean entering the grounds of the giant lake near the Summer Palace, which is surrounded by various temples and buildings.
So, we made our way around the edge of the lake until we reached the Hall of Dispelling Clouds and climbed our way to the top. The view was amazing. Not only could we see the entire lake, but we could also see most of Beijing. But as always, there were way too many people to get a really good view, so Muh and I decided to climb over a railing into a restricted part of the balcony surrounding the hall. While doing this, Chinese people were saying "Waiguo ren!" (foreigners) and staring at us with concerned looks, but everyday on the street I hear people saying “waiguo!” when I walk by, so it no longer bothers me. I got some good pictures and we headed back to the beaten path to continue our tour. Our next stop was the marble boat of the Summer Palace. One of the queens who summered in the palace apparently commissioned the building of a giant marble boat. For obvious reasons, the boat did not float at all and once in the water sunk like a rock....a large boat-shaped marble rock. Thankfully, it only sunk a few meters in the shallows of the lake and 90% of the boat is still above water, so the Chinese can make a nice profit offering people, for a minimal fee, the opportunity to visit the idiotic boat. However, at this juncture, we discovered that the large cylinder tower across the lake was actually much too far and not actually a part of the palace grounds. Exhausted, we headed to the entrance and caught our bus back to campus.
I arrived at my dorm room with one thing in mind, a nap. My roommate and his girlfriend had other plans however. They wanted to talk to me in English and ask about my photos. So, I let them. In actuality, I ended up speaking more Chinese than English, so it worked out well.

Finally dinner time rolled around, and it seemed that everyone, including my roommate and his girlfriend, were hungry for some pizza. Here in Beijing, there is a local chain called Big Pizza, which at this point in our evening, sounded delicious. It turns out its 39 Yuan for an all-you-can-eat buffet, AND the buffet included unlimited beer. Why don't we have this in America!?!?! We actually closed the place down. There were nine of us, and all of us were thoroughly taking advantage of the unlimited beer. At 9:30 we were politely asked to leave. My roommate and his girlfriend, being that they're Chinese, decided that karaoke would be a good next step in our evening.
So, we all wandered over to the KTV near our dorm. From the outside, the KTV looks like a small one room restaurant, and that is what I expected, a room with a stage and people singing their hearts out. However, when we entered, I thought we had walked into a five star hotel. The entranceway lead into a marble staircase, which lead down into a luxury lobby attended by multiple employees. We were told that it was 100 Yuan an hour to have a room. We couldn't pass this up. We were lead down a marble hallway with doors every 20 feet or so. Through the windows of the doors, we could see Chinese business men and families drinking, smoking, and singing. We finally got to our room and were let inside. The place was incredible! There was a huge red leather sofa, a giant television, three separate monitors and a small stage. Needless to say, we had a great time. My roommate, apparently a seasoned veteran, started us off with a nice slow Chinese song. Then it was time for songs in English, which lead to hilarity and embarrassment. Everyone was singing into the two microphones and singing badly. I can't lie; I have a tremendously horrible singing voice. After two hours of belting both English and Chinese songs, we all decided to call it a night. I do not have any pictures from karaoke, but a few people including my roommate took a few, so I will see if I can get my hands on some. I do have tons of pictures from the Summer Palace though, so head over and have a gander.