Our Beijing Adventure: A Vow on the Great Wall & a Stroll Through the Summer Palace

By: Jack (and my best travel buddy, Jen)

If the Forbidden City left us in awe of history, our next day in Beijing completely captured our souls. For this day, we had one single, epic goal: The Great Wall.

Our itinerary clearly laid out the meeting point and time, which saved us the massive headache of trying to figure out the public transport situation ourselves. As our bus pulled away from the city, and the skyscrapers slowly gave way to rolling, green mountains, our heartbeats started to pick up.

We visited the Badaling section. As the cable car climbed higher, that legendary dragon, that magnificent scar on the face of the Earth, unfolded before our eyes without any warning. Jen and I fell silent, simply holding each other's hands. It's a kind of shock and wonder you just can't describe with words.

"We're actually standing on it!" Jen's voice was trembling a little.

We held hands as we climbed the unbelievably steep stone steps. Every single brick under our feet seemed to whisper stories of a thousand years. We were out of breath, but laughing, imagining the ancient soldiers standing guard here, their loneliness and their glory. This is, without a doubt, a top-tier bucket list item. Standing on a watchtower, looking out as the Wall snakes endlessly through the mountains, we felt completely one with history.

The next day, we decided to slow things way down. We set aside the entire day to soak in the peace and intricate beauty of a royal garden—the Summer Palace.

Over breakfast at the hotel, we were mapping out our day. Even though our guide was packed with info, we wanted to get our "local friend's" take. So, Jen pulled out her phone and opened the online chat window that we were quickly becoming addicted to.

She typed: "Hey! We're planning to go to the Summer Palace today and want to take our time. Any suggestions on the best entrance or route? Also, any ideas for a cool place to eat lunch inside or nearby?"

Almost instantly, a reply popped up: "Hey Jack and Jen! Have you recovered from the Great Wall hike yet? Haha! The Summer Palace is perfect for a chill day. I'd suggest entering through the East Palace Gate. That way, you won't have to backtrack. You can stroll along Kunming Lake, walk through the world's longest art gallery (the Long Corridor), and end up at the Marble Boat. For lunch, the Tingliguan Restaurant inside the park is famous for its imperial-style cuisine—definitely worth it! Have a romantic day! 😉"

That winky-face emoji made us smile all over again. The feeling was just awesome. It was like having a personal, super-helpful guide in our pocket, ready to give the perfect advice right when we needed it.

The Summer Palace has a totally different vibe from the Forbidden City or the Great Wall. If those two are thundering epic poems, this place is a beautiful, lyrical one. We wandered along the shore of Kunming Lake, the sun sparkling on the water. We were blown away by the thousands of exquisite paintings on the ceiling of the Long Corridor—every single one telling a story. Jen was fascinated by the giant Marble Boat, a boat carved from stone that could never sail, and we must have taken a hundred pictures of it.

We tried some delicate imperial-style pastries at the Tingliguan Restaurant, feeling like we were getting a little taste of an emperor and empress's afternoon tea. It was the kind of place where you can completely lose track of time and just relax.

Every day of our Beijing trip has brought a new kind of surprise. From the triumphant feeling of conquering the Great Wall to the peaceful bliss of wandering the Summer Palace, this city has shown us so many different sides of itself.

But the luckiest part for us has been this "invisible companion" on our journey. It's made our explorations completely worry-free and has made every single experience feel deeper and more special.

Our Beijing story isn't over yet. For our next stop, we're time-traveling from ancient China straight into a modern world of magic! Are you ready? Universal Studios Beijing, here we come.