The Summer Palace was created in the 1700s as a retreat from hectic city life for China’s royalty.

It’s famous for its traditional gardens and numerous temples that punctuate Kunming Lake and Longevity Hill. In fact, Longevity Hill was created out of the tons of soil that was scraped out of the earth to create Kunming Lake.

So, was it the bucolic, peaceful place we were expecting? Perhaps with a little imagination. But we were so distracted by the mobs of people, that we were more focused on getting from Point A to Point B in what felt like a slowly-forward-moving moshpit with vendors barking at us to buy fake noses with sunglasses, numerous confections and bottles of water.

As Lindsay so aptly noted, “I’d kill for a temple of serenity right now!”