summer palace
Yes, this is Beijing. Look at the beautiful skies.

For my first day in Beijing, I planned on visiting the Summer Palace and then enjoy a Peking opera performance at Liyuan Theater.

First Stop: Summer Palace

pagoda from afar
pagoda from afar

Close-up of a pagoda
Close-up of a pagoda

Chinese name craft
Having my Chinese name written fancifully

​The weather was extremely perfect today. The skies were actually blue and filled with clouds --- nothing that I expected. When one of my friends went to Beijing, she told me that she couldn’t even see the skies because it was so polluted.

An old Oriental floating boat
An old Oriental floating boat

​I walked around the entire time, relying on a map that I bought. I wanted to take a boat so I approached one of the boat tour groups. A woman vigorously tried to sell me a ticket, even giving me a discount to persuade me to purchase the ticket right now.

Last stop: Peking Opera Show @ Liyuan Theater

Liyuan Theater
Liyuan Theater

My own table with snacks (yum!)
My own table with snacks (yum!)

After an entire day of walking, I returned to the hotel to take a shower and prepare for the Peking opera show.

I reserved a ticket online so I had to meet a woman at the Liyuan Theater. I paid her 300 yuan and she got me my ticket. The theater was not crowded at all especially for a Sunday evening. I sat at a pretty good spot with a table and snacks but I wished my family or friends were there to enjoy the show with me.

Here are some photos of the performance (Sorry for the bad quality!):

Chinese opera actress
The only good photo out of the rest

Two Chinese opera performers
Two Chinese opera performers

Three Chinese opera performers
Three Chinese opera performers

Trip to Beijing: Day 2

Official first day in Beijing and the weather is doing me good :)