Have you started your Travel to Beijing? Have you learned something from your China Tours? With the introduction of my classmate, I get more knowledge of the Summer Palace. Moreover, there are still some other interesting things that I want to tell you.
4. 
The 17-Arch Bridge
The 17-Arch Bridge is the longest bridge in the palace (150 meters in all).It was built during 1736-1795 during Qing dynasty. The bridge looks like one of Chinese famous bridge, the Lu Gou Bridge.
However, do you want to know why it is called the 17-Arch Bridge? In traditional Chinese culture, nine stands for lucky, so emperor loves number pretty much. When they wanted to build a bridge in the palace, they chose the number 17 because no matter which side do you start, you will count to 9 when you stop in the middle of the bridge. What is more, there are 544 lions on the pillars of the bridge with different vivid looks.
5. The Suzhou Street 
In fact, the Suzhou Street is a folk-style market street. The street is 300 meters in length and was built as a river street since it was built more than 200 years ago. It is located in the center of the back lake. Alone the shore, there are as much as 64 different shops such as teahouses, workshops, restaurants, banks and so on. Nevertheless, why there is such a street inside an imperial Garden? It was said that emperor and empress led a luxurious life in the palace. However, they can not go shopping or hunt around in the market as ordinary people. So they wish they could enjoy a normal life just as ordinary people. As a result, Emperor Qianlong ordered to build a imitation of the Suzhou Street in the palace after he traveled to the south of China. Therefore, the street was built in a southern water village style.
Nowadays, what attracts me most is the shopping ways in the Suzhou Street. When we transact in this street, we can change our money into the copper coins of the Qing Dynasty to have a better taste of the business culture in the late 18th century.
In general, the Summer Palace is not only famous for its historical site, but also the leisurely and comfortable ways people live with it nowadays:
a. 
“Morning Exercise”
If you get to the palace early in the morning (before 8 o’ clock perhaps), you may see an old man doing morning exercise with a quite big writing brush. Most of the time, we buy writing brush in a stationery store, and the length of a writing brush is between 10 to 30 centimeters. However, the writing brush he uses is longer than 1 meter (there is no doubt that it is made by himself) and he writes on the ground instead of a paper, using water instead of Chinese ink. He usually writes traditional Chinese poems and idioms. It is surely a environmental friendly way because the characters disappear when the ground gets dry.
b. Pecking Opera Shows
If you are as lucky as I am, you can enjoy a Pecking Opera Show while watching the beautiful sceneries in the palace. The people who appear on the show are usually retired ones. They perform in turns and enjoy themselves pretty much.
c. Flying kites
The palace is big enough to fly a kite. When spring comes, there are many people flying kites in the open air in the palace. The bridge is people’s best choice and you can find some lovely kites made by people who fly the kite.
Okay, if you start your Beijing Tours one day, do not forget this wonderful place, the Summer Palace.
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