A Morning at the Summer Palace

This morning, I met with Echo, one of Steve's business contacts here in Beijing, and we toured the Summer Palace together! Echo's boyfriend, Carl, also met up with us, and we had a lovely time walking around the perimeter of the large lake. I was impressed by the great size of the park, and I loved all of the bridges and pavilions. Because it was Tuesday, and also on the off season, there were not very many people, and most of the visitors were retired and touring the area.
It was nice to be able to move around with ease, but most of the plants were still in winter-mode, and I imagine that the park is much more stunning in the summer. I mean... it IS the SUMMER Palace after all... At least we had some buds though!
We still had a lovely time strolling by the water though! I even pulled a touresty move and tried on courtesan clothing! A bunch of women walked by when I was wearing the costume, and they thought it was super hilarious. I tried to get them to pose with me, but they were shy!! Oh well, hahaa.
After touring the Summer Palace, we met with Steve and had a DELICIOUS lunch at a vegetarian restaurant. They even had fake meat in the dishes, so I was able to eat more traditional Chinese dishes that would typically have meat, which was fantastic, for I've felt bad for missing out on all the wonderful sauces and flavor combinations. Man, it was GOOOOOOD!!! Seriously... I thought my stomach would burst, but I kept on eating. NOM NOM NOM!! Hurrah!
Hahaa... seriously... I can't keep this up or I am going to be sick as a dog by the end of this trip!