Beijing

October 11-14, 2015

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Summer Palace A popular place for schools, we visited the Summer Palace. The best part of the visit was interacting with all the smiling children.

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Follow Melissa!

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Dragon and Phoenix The dragon (female) and the phoenix (male) are imperial symbols for the emperor and his wife.

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Smile! Can you say "cheeeeese"?

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Happy Place Kelly leads a group of in-need travelers to the "happy place" (restroom).

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Bow-Tie Joint Walking along the stone path I saw these iron bow-tie joints. At first I thought they were holding the large stones in place. But a missing joint a little further down the path revealed that the iron was only set 1/4 inch into the stone and only decorative.

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First Garbage Unusual by its absence, this is the first example of litter I have seen on the trip. Our guide says the government hires many people to keep the city clean. But other than cigarette butts, I haven't seen anyone tossing litter either.

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