After clearing customs and meeting our tour guide, we were shuttled off to the Summer Palace, where we got a first taste of some of the beauty that lay ahead of us in China.

Built in the 1700s under the Qing dynasty, the Palace revolves around the exquisite man-made Kunming Lake. The place was merely a summer playground for Emporers and Empresses, and though it has fallen into disrepair and been rebuilt several times, its present condition is nothing short of amazing. We marveled at the painting, sculpure, and architecture on the site's buildings and "long corridor" along the river as the sun went down behind the lake.