On our last day in Beijing we decided to visit The Summer Palace, it was the height of the summer season so it seemed only right to pay it a visit and make the most of the bright, warm weather. Although I'm living in Thailand where it's always summer my parents are still living in the UK where even the summers are full of rain and gloom so I thought it would be a nice place to take them to enjoy our last day together.
I barely remember The Summer Palace from seven years ago although what I do remember is being stood at the entrance for a long time while lots of Chinese people lined up to take photos with us which was a very strange experience for me at the time but now China is more open to international tourism we're not such a rare sight to see!
The Palace is surrounded by a large lake which you can rent boats to ride around in but we decided to just sit and enjoy the cool breeze from the waters and reflect on the great times we had together as a family. As I was due to leave Beijing later that day we didn't really have much time to explore the actual palaces but just walking around the lake and seeing the palace from afar was beautiful enough.
The Summer Palace is such a beautiful place and although it was very busy that day I still felt relaxed and happy. My trip back to Beijing was so much fun and I would love to explore more of China and even go back to Xi'an one day and see how much my Panda babies have grown up. I was humbled at the kindness that everyone showed us there and it really made me feel so thankful for my life, this trip was exactly what I needed to feel re-invigorated and more myself again. Don't worry China I'll be back... one day.
Have you ever been to China? What places would you love to visit?
Yunju Temple was a whole new place for me to see in Beijing and the first destination we visited when we arrived. Our guide for the day was my Dad's friend who studies Buddhism and says it's his favourite place to visit when he's feeling stressed as it's a nice quiet place to relax and contemplate. I had been going through a stressful time prior to my trip to Beijing so it seemed like a great place for me to visit to find some inner peace and put me in a happier mindset for the rest of my trip.
The temple is about an hour outside of Beijing and set amongst some peaceful mountains. I already felt much calmer upon our arrival there just being surrounded by the beautiful nature a stark contrast to the busy city of Beijing. It was the perfect setting for a temple and we were only a handful of people visiting that day so pretty much had the whole place to ourselves.
The temple has six main halls of worship which are set on different levels that you reach by stone steps and each hall represents a different stage of Buddha's life from birth, to enlightenment, to death. I found the layout of this temple very interesting as the journey you made up each stairway to each different hall of worship seemed to reflect Buddha's ascension to Nirvana and the highest hall in the temple contained Buddha relics which resembled small pearls.
In each hall of worship my Dad's friend would share stories of Buddha's life and it made me realise just how little I actually know about Buddha. I've had experiences of Buddhism my whole life with my family in Thailand being Buddhists but most of what I know is practice and very little about Buddha himself so hearing these stories made me want to learn more about him and gain a better understanding about the religion as a whole.
I wouldn't call myself a religious person, I'm pretty open minded when it comes to beliefs and although I may not follow a specific one I do respect them and I enjoy visiting places of worship as they're often peaceful and give a good insight into people and different cultures. Buddhism I find particularity interesting though not only because of my family but because it's about personal growth, finding inner peace and enlightenment which I think is a good life goal for anyone to want to achieve.
It was nice to walk around the temple and see so many practising monks there, each were busy reading scriptures, using prayer beads or just helping clean up the temple grounds. The quiet setting of this temple makes a nice peaceful place for the monks to just sit and meditate. It would be a great place for a temple-stay to but unfortunately I don't think that's something Yunju currently offers.
One of the things I was most astonished and humbled at was seeing was all these stone tablets with Buddhist scriptures carved into them. There are a total of 14,278 of these stone tablets and the first was carved by a monk named Jinwan in the seventh century as he wanted a more permanent way to preserve the scriptures due to the fact Buddhists were facing persecution, he hid these tablets in caves surrounding the temple and work on carving these stone tablets continued for more than 1000 years. Now the excavated tablets are housed in a special "Sutra Palace" under the temple built less that 20 years ago and it's amazing to see just how well preserved they are considering their ancient age.
My mind was in an unhealthy place before my journey to Beijing but this visit to Yunju helped ease some of those worries and I really enjoyed the calming atmosphere and the new things I had learned that day. Yunju is definitely one of the most interesting temples I've visited in a while and well worth a trip out of Beijing to see if only to enjoy some peace and quiet away from city life.
What places do you visit when you need to find some peace?
When I travel abroad I'm always interested to see differentplacesofworship as they can be quite peaceful and beautiful. I remember briefly visiting Yonghe seven years ago but not having much time to explore as we arrived near to closing time, so as my mum is a Buddhist I thought it would be an interesting place to take her so she could see what a temple in China is like compared to the ones we visit in Thailand.
The temple was extremely busy on the day we visited, there were cars lining up down the road waiting to get in and the halls of worship were so full of people it was a struggle to get through. I like to visit temples as an escape so I can meditate and enjoy a little peace but it was pretty much impossible to find any sort of peace at The Lama Temple that day, the smell of incense smoke, which I normally find calming, was so strong that day it was choking.
One of the things you must see is the 26 meter tall Maitreya Buddha which is not only impressive because of its huge size but because of the fact it was carved from a single piece of Tibetan white sandalwood, and because of its vast size it took over three years to ship to Beijing. It's one of the temples most prize possessions and once you see it you'll know exactly why, it's an absolutely beautiful sight and it's amazing to think of all the hard work and love that was put into creating it.
Despite the crowds it was a really beautiful day and definitely a place I would recommend you visit if you're in Beijing, the area surrounding the temple is great to visit to as there are many souvenir shops and restaurants as well as a Confucius Temple which I would love to visit if I ever go back to Beijing.
What places do you like to visit when you travel abroad?
The Forbidden City is probably one of the most famous sights in China and a place you must see if you travel to Beijing. Several years ago when I visited I was shocked at the amount of tourist at this site but I think on my second visit there were even more! It was a hot summers day when we visited The Forbidden City or Palace Museum as it's also know by and it's called a city for a reason, it's absolutely humongous! I'm not quite sure how we walked through it all so quickly last time but I recommend at least half a day to experience it and to bring lots of water if it's sunny!
As I was there with my parents who are a little less energetic than me we decided not to walk through the whole city as it was far too hot that day however we got lost trying to find an exit as you can't exit the way you came in. None of the signs weren't really helpful in out quest to find an exit and none of us could speak Chinese but eventually after a lot of walking and a shuttle bus trip we finally made our way out.
I was glad to get the chance to re-visit The Forbidden City again in the summer as they colours of all the buildings were so vibrant, one of the things I love most about Asian architecture is just how bold and colourful it can be, of course a lot of the buildings have been renovated as you could see just how faded some of the older buildings are, there was also a lot of construction happening inside and with the size of this place I can imagine the upkeep on all the buildings is pretty much constant.
Looking back on the photos taken on my last trip it's strange to think how much I've changed in both appearance and personally. China was the first trip I had taken abroad on my own and it helped me learn so much about myself and my capabilities and I also learned so much about other cultures and how to be more understanding and less ignorant.
Visiting here a second time I felt more relaxed and prepared as I had a better understanding of how things worked like queuing for example, people in China sometimes just barge in and push you aside so you just have to go with the flow, don't let it get to you and be a bit more pushy yourself or you'll never get in anywhere! What you may view as rude may be common place in another culture so it's important to travel with an open mind, be observant and be kind.
What's the biggest lesson that you've learnt from travelling?
It's been seven years since my first visit to Beijing, China and seven years since I made my dreams a reality, took that plunge and booked my first solo trip abroad. I never imagined I would actually go back to China one day but the opportunity came knocking and I took it without a second thought. A lot has changed in seven years and even though I had already been to most of the places we visited they had changed so much. A lot has changed within me to so even though the setting was familiar I was seeing everything with a whole new appreciation and perspective.
This was a nostalgic trip for me and also a chance to re-connect with my parents who I hadn't seen in almost 6 months. The trip was made possible thanks to my Dad's friends and work colleagues and I got to see a whole new side of him I'd never seen before and meet new people who showed us so much warmth and hospitality I couldn't help but feel humbled.
There's a photo in our house of my Dad when he was in his twenties at The Great Wall of China and next to it a photo of me at the same age standing on The Great Wall to, now several years later we made the journey there together as a family. As I had visited all the main tourist sights in Beijing before I made this trip about spending time with the family and showing them the places I had enjoyed and keeping them happy and hydrated in the Beijing summer.
Mutianyu has changed a lot in seven years, I remember travelling there down isolated roads in the mountains and being one of only a handful of people visiting but now it's much different! This is said to be one of the quieter sections of The Great Wall to visit however there were hundreds of people there that day. They had also built a brand new visitor center and a bunch of restaurants (including Burger King and Starbucks) and lots of souvenir shops. Seven years ago I remember us eating lunch in a local restaurant similar to a shed before we got to "The Wall" but on the whole journey there this time I saw so much construction, houses and new buildings it was almost like we had never left the city. It was a really interesting trip and I'm happy I got to spend it with my parents and tell them all about my solo adventures and share with them in person some of the amazing places I had been.
What places have you been to in the past that you would like to re-visit now?
