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In 1987 I was one of five professors from our college that spent a summer teaching English to the some of the faculty and staff of our sister college in Tianjin, China. One day our hosts took us and several of our students to see the Summer Palace in Beijing.
The Summer Palace was an imperial garden during the Qing dynasty, and is a vast collection off lakes, gardens, and palaces. The architecture was in a traditional Chinese style.
The ornamentation on the roofs of the palace was exquisite.
On of the features of the Summer Palace was the Long Corridor, a covered walkway that contained approximately 14,000 paintings, most of which were derived from classical Chinese literature.
Water makes up three-quarters of the grounds of the Summer Palace. Kunming Lake is the largest of the bodies of water and provides a beautiful and relaxing sight.
Another outstanding attraction of the palace is the Marble Boat. In reality it is a tea room, but it was built in the style of ships in the Chinese navy.
Senior Moments 