Its purpose was to serve as a location for the emperor to pray for a good harvest and celebrate the relationship between heaven and earth. Around the buildings is a park that is a local favorite. It was really impressive to see so many people (many retirees) spending the morning playing games, exercising, singing in groups, etc... One favorite activity seems to be playing a variation of Hacky Sack which really makes us look like couch potatoes back home.

After lunch, we went to the Summer Palace which is set in a beautiful area surrounded by hills and centered around a man-made lake.

The Summer Palace, including the lake, was built in the 1700s by the dowager empress (emperor's mother) to use as a summer residence. She also kept the emperor and empress housed in two separate buildings on the property under house arrest. The weather was absolutely perfect today so it was really nice to walk around outside and enjoy the scenery.

We were then able to drive by and see some of the new buildings for the Olympics which will take place here next summer.

Unfortunately, we were not able to get too close due to the ongoing construction. Our last stop was a government-run tea house where we learned about the five primary teas of China and got to sample each.

Alex held his own until the end of the day but fell asleep in the bus on the way back to the hotel. We were not able to get him up for dinner so we ordered room service and have had a quiet evening. We are keeping our fingers crossed that he sleeps through the night and can get on the local schedule.

Tomorrow we are off to see the Spirit Way of the Ming Tombs, a jade factory (one of the local specialties in the Beijing area) and the Great Wall. The Internet access here at the hotel is slow to upload pictures so I am only sending a few from today. Hope you enjoy them.